The United States is not seeking a war with Iran following one of Tehran’s proxies carrying out a deadly attack on U.S. forces in the Middle East, according to a top administration spokesperson.
An Iranian-backed militia that operates in Iraq and Syria carried out a drone strike on Sunday at a small U.S. military outpost in Jordan, near its border with Syria, known as Tower 22. The strike made impact near a barracks where troops were sleeping.
As of U.S. Central Command’s most recent update, which occurred on Sunday evening, three U.S. service members had been killed in the strike, and 34 were wounded, though that number is expected to grow. Eight of the 34 sustained injuries severe enough that they were evacuated from Jordan for additional medical care.
The base, which has approximately 350 U.S. Army and Air Force personnel deployed, is a logistics support base that supports U.S. forces in Iraq and Syria who are there to ensure the lasting defeat of the Islamic State.
President Joe Biden said an Iraqi militia, supported by Tehran, was responsible for the attack. National Security Council coordinator John Kirby said on MSNBC that the strike had “all the earmarks of a group or groups that are supported by Kataib Hezbollah, which is one of the big IRGC funded, supported, and resourced groups that operates in Iraq and Syria.”
Militias in Iraq and Syria have launched more than 150 of these attacks against various U.S. bases in both countries and now in Jordan. The strike that killed these troops was like all of the rest, none of which had any fatalities for U.S. service members, but it’s unclear why the strike was able to hit near a barracks full of sleeping service members.
“These groups are trying to threaten our troops and facilities, and that means trying to do it in a lethal way,” Kirby added in an interview on CNN. “So in this particular attack, they did kill three American service members and wounded 30 more. So this one had lethal consequences in ways that previous ones didn’t, but that doesn’t mean the intent in the previous attacks weren’t also lethal. It’s just that we were able to defeat them.”
The U.S. has launched its own airstrikes to target the militias’ facilities a handful of times since the attacks against U.S. forces in the region began in mid-October.
Both Biden and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin warned the U.S. would respond to the deadly attack, while Kirby reiterated the U.S. is not seeking a war with Tehran.
“We will hold all those responsible to account at a time and in a manner of our choosing,” Biden said, while Austin affirmed, “We will respond at a time and place of our choosing.”
“We don’t want a wider war with Iran,” Kirby said on MSNBC. “We don’t want a wider war in the region. But we got to do what we have to do.”
These militias are one of Iran’s proxy groups in the region, many of which are carrying out acts against U.S. interests in the Middle East since war erupted between Israel and Hamas, which gets support from Tehran, in October.
Iran also supports Hezbollah, the U.S.-designated terrorist group based in Lebanon that has engaged in limited combat at Israel’s northern border with Lebanon, while the Tehran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen have carried out about three dozen attacks on commercial vessels transiting the waterways off the country’s coasts.
The U.S. military has also carried out strikes against the Houthis, though the rebel group retains its capabilities to launch similar attacks in the Red Sea, threatening the global shipping industry.
Two U.S. Navy SEALs were presumed dead earlier this month after they were lost at sea during an interdiction of Iranian weapons intended for the Houthis.
The Biden administration’s response to the militias, the Houthis, Hamas, and Hezbollah have all been coordinated to ensure its main goal — to prevent a wider conflict from engulfing the region. Despite the plan, several hawkish Republicans have called for the administration to hit Iran directly.
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Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), one of the most prominent hawks in the Senate, demanded Biden “Hit Iran now. Hit them hard,” while Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) said, “Target Tehran.” Cornyn later clarified he believes the U.S. should target Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and Quds Force to restore deterrence: “This is about deterrence, not war.”
“It is time to act with purpose and resolve in response to attacks that have tragically taken the lives of American service members and injured scores more,” said Sen. Roger Wicker (R-MI), ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee. “We must respond to these repeated attacks by Iran and its proxies by striking directly against Iranian targets and its leadership. The Biden administration’s responses thus far have only invited more attacks. It is time to act swiftly and decisively for the whole world to see.”
