US President Joe Biden on Sunday blamed Iran-backed militants for a drone attack on a base in Jordan that killed three American troops and promised to hold the perpetrators accountable at “a time and in a manner” of their choosing.
“Today, America’s heart is heavy. Last night, three U.S. service members were killed—and many wounded—during an unmanned aerial drone attack on our forces stationed in northeast Jordan near the Syria border,” Biden said in a statement on the attack on Sunday. “While we are still gathering the facts of this attack, we know it was carried out by radical Iran-backed militant groups operating in Syria and Iraq,” he added.
Iran has dismissed reports of its alleged role in the US base in Jordan. “These claims are made with specific political goals to reverse the realities of the region and also indicate that they are influenced by third parties,” Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Nasser Kanaani was quoted as saying by IRNA.
This is the first time American military personnel have been killed by hostile fire in the Middle East since the start of Israel’s war with Hamas. The growing violence in several parts of the Middle East has raised fears of a broader regional conflict directly involving Iran. Speaking later in the day at a South Carolina church banquet center, the US president doubled down on his pledge of reprisals. “We shall respond,” Biden told the attendees.
‘Regional explosion’
Hamas spokesperson Sami Abu Zuhri called the attack “a message to the American administration that unless the killing of innocent people in Gaza stops, it may be faced with the entire (Muslim) nation.” “The continuation of the American-Zionist aggression on Gaza risks a regional explosion,” Abu Zuhri said. Jordanian government spokesperson Muhannad Mubaidin meanwhile expressed his country’s “condolences to the United States for the victims of the attack.”
The escalating Middle East conflict poses a challenge to Biden in an election year, with Republican politicians seeking to use the deadly attack to put pressure on the government, including ex-president Donald Trump, who described the situation as a “consequence of Biden’s weakness and surrender.” “The drone attack on a US Military Installation in Jordan, killing 3 American service members, and wounding many more, marks a horrible day for America,” Trump wrote on Truth Social on Sunday.
Several Republicans Sunday called on Biden to retaliate against Iran after three US service members were killed and 34 others wounded in the Jordan attack. “Hit Iran now. Hit them hard,” wrote Senator Lindsey Graham on X. “When the Biden Administration says ‘don’t’, the Iranians ‘do’. The Biden Administration’s rhetoric is falling on deaf ears in Iran,” Graham said. “Iran is undeterred,” he said. “The only thing the Iranian regime understands is force. Until they pay a price with their infrastructure and their personnel, the attacks on US troops will continue.”
Secretary Austin’s efforts to deter aggression against our forces in the region has failed miserably. I’ve long since lost confidence in the Biden national security team to deter Iran. If they do not change their policies now, more American service members in the region will pay…— Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) January 28, 2024
Senator Tom Cotton from Arkansas highlighted a deal the Biden administration cut with Iran to issue a waiver for sanctions on $6 billion in frozen Iranian assets in exchange for the release of five American detainees last year. “Joe Biden emboldened Iran for years by tolerating attacks on our troops, bribing the ayatollahs with billions of dollars, and appeasing them to no end. He left our troops as sitting ducks and now three are dead and dozens wounded, sadly as I’ve predicted would happen for months,” he said in a statement.
This GOP criticism comes as US and allied forces in Iraq and Syria have been targeted in more than 150 attacks since mid-October, according to the Pentagon, and Washington has carried out retaliatory strikes in both countries. Many of the attacks on US personnel have been claimed by the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, a loose alliance of Iran-linked armed groups that oppose US support for Israel in the Gaza conflict.
On Sunday, the Islamic Resistance in Iraq said it targeted US personnel with drones at three locations in Syria, including two bases near where the borders of Iraq, Syria and Jordan meet. The latest round of the Israel-Hamas conflict began when the Palestinian militant group carried out a shock attack on October 7 that resulted in about 1,140 deaths.
Wider Middle East crisis
The United States has backed Israel, which has carried out a relentless military offensive that has killed at least 26,422 people in Gaza, according to the Gaza health ministry. Those deaths have sparked widespread anger across the region and stoked violence involving Iran-backed groups in Lebanon, Iraq and Syria as well as Yemen.
Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels have carried out more than two months of attacks on shipping, saying they were hitting Israeli-linked vessels in support of Palestinians in Gaza. The US and Britain have responded with two rounds of joint strikes against the Huthis, while American forces have also carried out unilateral air raids against the rebels, who have also declared US and UK interests to be legitimate targets.
(With agency inputs)
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