The Pentagon has announced that “there will be consequences” for the deadly drone attack on a US base in Jordan which killed three American soldiersover the weekend.
President Joe Biden told reporters on Tuesday that he has decided on a US response to the attack, as he departed the White House for a fundraising trip to Florida.
A short time later, National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby told reporters aboard Air Force One that the US response to the attack could be “tiered,” meaning it could involve multiple actions rather than just one.
Later on Tuesday, Pentagon Press Secretary Major General Patrick Ryder was asked by a reporter about the paramilitary group Kata’ib Hezbollah putting out a message on social media “telling its fighters not to attack US bases in Iraq and Syria, suggesting that they will support the fight in Gaza in other ways and suggesting that even if the US strikes them, not to respond”.
“We’ve seen those reports. I don’t have a specific comment to provide other than actions speak louder than words,” Maj Gen Ryder said.
“I’m not going to get into any details about what a potential future operation could look like,” he added. “You’ve heard both the President and Secretary Austin say that we will respond in a time in a manner of our choosing.”
“Three US service members were killed, over 40 wounded,” Maj Gen Ryder said, noting that “these service members were deployed into the region to contribute to regional security and stability in support of the international coalition to ensure the lasting defeat of ISIS. So there will be consequences, and I’ll just leave it at that”.
US officials have posited that the drone escaped air defence systems because it was mistaken for a separate, US-owned aircraft that was returning to the base.
While the US has not specifically attributed the attack to any particular group, the president also told reporters that he holds Iran responsible for the attack because that country’s government is “supplying the weapons to the people who did it,” though he declined to say whether a direct link between Tehran and the attacks has been established by US intelligence.
Maj Gen Ryder addressed the drone attack in an initial statement during the briefing on Tuesday saying, “In terms of additional details about the drone attack itself, we know there are still many questions to include how the one-way attack drone could have penetrated the facility’s air defences, its point of origin and which specific Iranian proxy group is responsible”.
“What we do know is that Iran-backed militias are responsible for these continued attacks on US forces and that we will respond at a time and manner of our choosing. While we do not seek to escalate tensions in the region, we will also take all necessary actions to protect our troops or facilities in our interests,” he added.
In the days since the drone attack, some Republicans have been calling for the US to respond by attacking targets within Iran’s borders, while Biden administration officials have been contemplating several different response scenarios, including strikes on Iranian proxies and a strike on an Iranian naval ship in the Persian Gulf.
But Mr Biden said he did not want to see the situation escalate into a broader regional conflict.
“I don’t think we need a wider war in the Middle East. That’s not what I’m looking for,” he said.
Over the weekend, Mr Biden had promised a US response to the deadly incident, which is widely believed to be part of a campaign orchestrated by Tehran to escalate tensions and inflict damage on the US and its allies in the Middle East region.
National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said on Monday that “there’s a responsibility that appropriately needs to be laid at the feet of leaders in Tehran” for the attacks and noted that the Iranian government “clearly” continues to support militant groups that have been attacking US positions, ships, and international commercial shipping in the Red Sea.
The drone attack struck a housing trailer on the small, remote US base, known as Tower 22, and killed the three soldiers occupying it while wounding more than 40 others, with eight of the casualties requiring evacuation to a medical facility in Iraq.
The Pentagon on Monday identified the soldiers as Sgt William Jerome Rivers, 46 of Carrollton, Georgia; Specialist Kennedy Ladon Sanders, 24 of Waycross, Georgia; and Specialist Breonna Alexsondria Moffett, 23, of Savannah, Georgia. All three were Army reservists assigned to the 718th Engineer Company, 926th Engineer Battalion, 926th Engineer Brigade out of Fort Moore, Georgia.
Iran has denied responsibility for the attack, but Pentagon deputy press secretary Sabrina Singh on Monday told reporters that it bore “footprints of Kata’ib Hezbollah” while declining to explicitly credit any group.
“We know that Iran is behind it. And certainly, as we’ve said before … Iran continues to arm and equip these groups to launch these attacks, and we will certainly hold them responsible,” she said.
