The United States announced on Monday “very substantial” retaliation after a drone strike in Jordan attributed to pro-Iran groups and which killed three American soldiers, with Tehran refuting any involvement in this attack occurring in an already explosive regional context.
President Joe Biden “will respond, you know, in a very consequential way.” But we are not looking for war with Iran. We are not looking for a broader conflict in the Middle East,” John Kirby, spokesman for the White House National Security Council, said on CNN on Monday.
The “Islamic Resistance in Iraq”, a nebula of fighters from pro-Iran armed groups, claimed responsibility for attacks carried out “with drones” on Sunday at dawn against three bases in Syrian territory hosting American soldiers, naming in particular the sectors of ‘Al-Tanf and Rukban, near the border with Jordan.
However, it is immediately difficult to determine whether one of these strikes was indeed the one which killed three American soldiers and injured 34. This is the heaviest human toll since pro-Iran armed groups launched rocket attacks and drone strikes against Washington troops and those of the international anti-jihadist coalition in mid-October.
“Have no doubt: we will hold all those responsible accountable, when and how we want,” US President Joe Biden promised on Sunday. He also accused “radical fighter groups supported by Iran operating in Syria and Iraq” of being responsible for the attack on American troops “based in northeastern Jordan, near the Syrian border.” “.
Jordan condemned a “terrorist” attack against “a forward position on the border with Syria”.
The drone strike hit “Tower 22”, a logistics base in Jordanian territory, located just opposite the Rukban area, in Syrian territory, according to the US military.
This position houses 350 members of Washington’s army and air force, carrying out essential support missions, particularly as part of the international coalition against the Islamic State (IS) group.
“Expansion of the conflict”
Since mid-October, more than 150 drone strikes or rocket attacks have targeted American and coalition soldiers in Iraq and Syria, a direct repercussion of the war in Gaza between Israel, Washington’s ally, and Hamas. Palestinian, supported by Tehran.
Tehran “has no link and has nothing to do with the attack on the American base,” responded Iran’s permanent representation to the UN.
The Iranian Foreign Ministry said it did not want “the expansion of the conflict in the Middle East”, according to its spokesperson Nasser Kanani.
But, he said, Iran is “not involved in decisions made by resistance groups on how they support the Palestinian nation.”
Since mid-October, most attacks against American soldiers have been claimed by the “Islamic Resistance in Iraq”.
In its statement claiming responsibility for the strikes on Rukban and Al-Tanf, the group said it was acting to “resist” American forces in Iraq and the region and “in response to the massacres” in the Gaza Strip.
In the far east of Syria, “groups of pro-Iran fighters evacuated 12 positions” in the regions of Boukamal and al-Mayadine, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (OSDH) said on Monday .
Transfers motivated by “fear of an American response” after the death of the three soldiers, according to this source.
“Spiral of violence”
In retaliation for attacks on its personnel, Washington had already carried out several strikes in Iraq against fighters from pro-Iran armed groups.
Just like in Yemen where bombings targeted positions of the Houthi rebels, who target international maritime traffic in the Red Sea.
Baghdad on Monday condemned the deadly attack against American soldiers in Jordan, while calling for “stopping the spiral of violence” in the Middle East.
“The Iraqi government denounces the ongoing escalation,” its spokesperson Bassim Alawadi said in a statement, assuring that his country wanted to help “develop fundamental rules of engagement, to avoid more repercussions in the region.” and prevent the expansion of the conflict.
The attack was also condemned by Egypt, Bahrain and the United Kingdom, whose head of diplomacy, David Cameron, called on Iran for “de-escalation in the region”.