US officials have said that a retaliatory strike on Iran-backed militias in the Middle East could take place at any time after three US servicemembers were killed and more than 40 were wounded in a drone attack in Jordan last weekend.
“We will have a multi-tiered response,” defence secretary Lloyd Austin said at the Pentagon on Thursday. “We have the ability to respond a number of times depending on what the situation is.”
The goal is to push back against militia groups backed by Iran that are operating in Iraq, Syria and Yemen, without any retaliatory measures leading to a wider war in the region.
This comes after the White House said on Wednesday that US intelligence had determined which militant group was behind the deadly drone attack on American troops.
“We believe that the attack in Jordan was a plan resourced and facilitated by an umbrella group called the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, which contains multiple groups, including Kataib Hezbollah,” National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said.
“Most of the drones in the region have a connection with Iran,” Mr Austin explained on Thursday.
US approves plans to directly target Iranian forces in response to attack that killed three soldiers