Login
iscover
The United States of America has warned its military forces will “respond at a time and place of our choosing” in the Middle East, following a fatal drone attack against US forces in the region.
To continue reading the rest of this article, please log in.
Create free account to get unlimited news articles and more!
The Pentagon has confirmed US President Joe Biden has consulted with national security advisers following a one-way suicide drone attack by Iranian-backed forces against Tower 22 Patrol Base in north-eastern Jordan near the Syrian border. Three US service members were killed and more than 40 injured in that attack.
In addition, the US Department of Defense has recorded more than 165 attacks from Iranian backed-forces in Iraq and Syria between 17 October 2023 and 29 January 2024.
Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh, speaking during a press briefing on 29 January, said the US military is still assessing what happened in the drone attack, how a one-way attack drone was able to impact the facility and how the administration will respond.
“We do know that Iran-backed militias are responsible for continued attacks on US forces in the region, and as the President and the secretary have stated, we will not tolerate continued attacks on American forces and we will take all necessary actions to defend US military men and women forward-deployed, and we will do so at a time and place of our choosing,” she said.
“We know that Iran certainly plays a role with these (militia) groups, they arm and equip and fund these groups. We know that Iran funds these groups, like Kata’ib Hezbollah. We know that these IRGC-backed militias are the ones responsible for attacks on our troops in Iraq and Syria.
“We don’t see this conflict widening as it still remains contained to Gaza, but this attack was certainly escalatory in that it killed three service members; three of our US service members.
“And as the President has said, we don’t seek conflict, we don’t want to see a widening of a regional war but we will respond at a time and place of our choosing.”
Ms Singh said the US President has convened meetings with his national security team and that the US will not tolerate attacks against US personnel stationed in the region.
“We certainly don’t seek a war, and frankly, we don’t see Iran wanting to seek a war with the United States,” she said.
“We don’t seek war, but we will take action and respond to attacks on our forces.
“Iran bears responsibility because it funds these groups that operate in Iraq, in Syria that launch attacks on our service members.”
