U.S. Army Reserve Sgt. William Jerome Rivers, Spc. Breonna Alexsondria Moffett and Spc. Kennedy Ladon Sanders, who were killed in a drone attack on an outpost in northeast Jordan, are seen in a combination of undated photographs.
U.S. Army Reserve Sgt. William Jerome Rivers, Spc. Breonna Alexsondria Moffett and Spc. Kennedy Ladon Sanders, who were killed in a drone attack on an outpost in northeast Jordan, are seen in a combination of undated photographs.
The White House said it’s weighing potential responses to a deadly attack on a U.S. base in Jordan by Iran-backed militants over the weekend, as both Washington and Tehran seek to avoid a direct confrontation over the widening Middle East conflict.
President Joe Biden is facing mounting pressure to respond to the drone assault, which killed three U.S. soldiers and wounded dozens of others. They were the first Americans to die from such an attack since regional tensions were inflamed by the start of the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza in October.
Biden is “working through” options, National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby told NBC on Monday, reiterating that the U.S. doesn’t want a “wider war” with Iran.
On Sunday, the president didn’t directly blame Tehran, but said the attack “was carried out by radical Iran-backed militant groups operating in Syria and Iraq.”
“We will hold all those responsible to account at a time and in a manner of our choosing,” he said.
Iran said any suggestion it was responsible was “baseless” and insisted the groups it is allied to act independently.
“Resistance groups in the region do not take orders from the Islamic Republic,” Foreign Ministry Spokesman Nasser Kanaani said. He was referring to what’s often called the “axis of resistance” — a network of militias in territories from Yemen to Iraq and Gaza that are supported by Tehran and share its opposition to the U.S. and Israel.
Oil initially rose 1.5% on Monday, with Brent climbing above $84 a barrel, though it later reversed those gains. Iran’s currency, the rial, fell to its weakest level on the black market since the start of the Israel-Hamas war, according to Bonbast.com, a website that tracks the exchange rate.
U.S. response
Washington’s response will be stronger than its most recent retaliations against Iranian proxies, according to a person familiar with the U.S. position, underlining the risks of further escalation in a conflict that’s already spread from Gaza across the Middle East.
Some American lawmakers, including Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-South Carolina, are urging Biden to strike Iranian territory.
“Hit Iran now,” Graham, who’s long been hawkish on Iran, said. “Hit them hard.”
The challenge for Biden is how to retaliate without raising oil prices and without getting drawn further into the conflict – and especially into a direct confrontation with Iran – in an election year.
