US forces have bombed pro-Iran militia positions in Iraq and eastern Syria this Friday, in response to the attack on a US military base in Jordan last weekend in which three members of the Army were killed and 34 others were wounded.
The US measures come after President Joe Biden met multiple times with his White House national security advisers to discuss the response to the deadly drone attack.
Defense Secretary Austin Lloyd had stated on Wednesday that they would take "all necessary actions to defend ourselves."
Sergeant William Jerome Rivers, Specialist Breonna Alexsondria Moffet;
and Kennedy Specialist Ladon Sanders.US Army Reserve Commans
In a statement, President Joe Biden attributed the attack to Iranian-backed militias operating in Syria and Iraq, although he stopped short of precisely identifying the group responsible.
Although Washington has not yet identified the perpetrators, the Islamic Resistance in Iraq group claimed responsibility for several attacks on positions in Syria and Iraq on Sunday and took responsibility for the deadly attack on US troops.
The United States Central Command (CENTCOM) identified the soldiers who died in the attack as Sergeant William Jerome Ríos, 46;
Kennedy Ladon Sanders, 24;
and Breonna Alexsondria Moffett, 23.
U.S. forces may have mistaken the enemy drone for an American one and therefore let it pass unopposed, officials told The Associated Press on Monday.
As the enemy drone flew at low altitude, a U.S. drone returned to the small facility known as Tower 22, according to a preliminary report cited by two officials, who were not authorized to comment and insisted on anonymity.
As a result, there was no effort to shoot down the enemy drone that hit the outpost.
One of the trailers where troops sleep took the brunt of the attack, while surrounding trailers suffered minor damage and flying debris.
[The keys to the attack that killed 3 US soldiers in Jordan for which Biden promised retaliation]
Even as Biden and his deputies vowed to retaliate, they added the caveat that Washington is not seeking war with Iran or a broader conflict in the region.
His statements seemed to indicate that retaliatory strikes were unlikely to hit targets inside Iran itself.
"We will continue to work to avoid a broader conflict in a region, but we will take all necessary steps to defend the United States, our interests and our people," Austin told reporters at a Pentagon news conference on Thursday.
More than 160 attacks against US troops
Iran has denied involvement in the drone attack and said it is also not seeking direct confrontation with the United States.
After previous attacks by Tehran-backed groups in Iraq and Syria that wounded but did not kill some U.S. troops, Biden ordered airstrikes targeting militants' weapons depots and other sites.
But the pace of rocket and drone attacks increased dramatically after the Hamas terrorist attack on Israel on October 7 and the subsequent Israeli attack on the Gaza Strip.
According to the Pentagon, there have been more than 160 attacks on US forces by Iranian-backed groups since October 7.
Meanwhile, Houthi forces in Yemen have attacked commercial ships in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden with drones and missiles, vowing to continue until Israel stops its military campaign in Gaza.
US warships have shot down dozens of Houthi drones and missiles, but some have hit commercial vessels, prompting a number of major shipping companies to shift cargo to other, longer routes.
In recent weeks, the US military has also carried out strikes against Houthi forces in Yemen, attacking launch sites and command centers.
["A dangerous escalation": at least 3 US soldiers die in attack on a military base in Jordan]
It is unclear whether the Biden Administration will choose to pursue Iranian ships suspected of helping the Houthis find targets with electronic intelligence. The last time the US military attacked an Iranian ship was in 1988, when the Navy launched retaliatory strikes in the Persian Gulf after a US ship was hit by a mine planted by Iran.
Tehran has denied direct involvement in the Jordan incident but has warned it will respond to any threat from the United States.
"We will not start any war, but if anyone wants to intimidate us, they will receive a strong response," Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi said in a televised speech on Friday.
"We hear threats coming from American officials, we tell them that they have already tested us and now we know each other, no threat will go unanswered," the head of Iran's Revolutionary Guard, Hossein Salami, said Wednesday.
With information from The Associated Press and
NBC News