The Biden administration attributed the drone attack that killed three U.S. service members in Jordan to the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, an umbrella group of Iranian-backed militias.
National Security Council coordinator John Kirby said on Wednesday that the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, which contained many militias, “planned, resourced, and facilitated” the attack.
“This certainly has the earmarks of the kinds of things that Kata’ib Hezbollah does,” he said, adding, “The attribution that our intelligence community is comfortable with is that this was done by the umbrella group called the Islamic Resistance in Iraq.”
In addition to the three service members who were killed in last Sunday’s attack on Tower 22, the small U.S. post in northeast Jordan, 41 Guardsmen were injured, according to an update also provided on Wednesday. Twenty-seven have returned to duty, while the 14 others continue to be evaluated with follow-on care.
The United States is expected to respond militarily to the strike, and President Joe Biden affirmed to reporters on Tuesday that he decided how the country would respond, though it hasn’t occurred yet.
Kirby indicated on Wednesday that the U.S. could carry out a tiered response, or one carried out in multiple parts.
“We will respond in a time and in a manner of our choosing on our schedule, and just because you haven’t seen anything in the last 48 hours, that doesn’t mean that you’re not going to see anything,” he explained. “And as I said earlier, when you see the first thing, don’t come to be thinking that that’s going to be the last thing.”
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
One of the militias, Kata’ib Hezbollah, announced on Tuesday its decision to suspend its military operations against U.S. troops in the region, though U.S. officials have expressed skepticism of the proclamation.
The head of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said Tehran was “not looking for war” with the U.S. but threatened to respond if attacked.
