A drone attack on a base in Jordan has killed three American soldierswith President Joe Biden blaming i Iranian-backed militants for the first deaths of US soldiers in the region since the war between Israel and Hamas began. It is in fact the first time that American soldiers have been killed in the Middle East since the beginning of the war: an event that raises, once again, the fear of an escalation of tensions against the backdrop of latent war between Israel and Iran.
“While we are still gathering the facts of this attack, we know that it was carried out by Iranian-backed radical militant groups operating in Syria and Iraq,” he said Biden in a statement. “Have no doubts: we will hold all those responsible to account at the times and in the ways we choose”. Visiting South Carolina, the President then asked for a moment of silence dedicated to the victims: “Last night we had a difficult day in the Middle East. We have lost three brave souls,” Biden said, before promising that the United States “will respond.”
US Central Command (CENTCOM) said the attack hit the remote logistics support base Tower 22 late Sunday and 34 people were injured, eight of whom required evacuation. There are about 350 U.S. Army and Air Force members at the base operating in support roles, including for the international coalition against the Islamic State jihadist group, CENTCOM said. Jordanian government spokesman Muhannad Mubaidin condemned the attack, as did Bahrain and Egypt.
The response of Iran, Jordan and Hamas
Iran has said it had nothing to do with the attack and has denied US and British accusations that it supported the militant groups responsible for the attack on the remote border base in northeast Jordan, near the borders with Iraq and Syria. The spokesperson of the Jordanian government, Muhannad Mubaidinin fact declared that “the attack targeted the Al-Tanf base in Syria”, a strategic base for the anti-jihadist coalition near the Jordanian and Iraqi borders.
Iran has denied any link to the attack and Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani called the accusations “unfounded” and a “projection.” “The Islamic Republic of Iran does not look favorably on the expansion of the conflict in the region,” Kanani said in a statement, adding that Tehran “is not involved in the decisions of the resistance groups.”
With the region already tense due to fighting in Gaza, the attack also raises fears of a wider conflict directly involving Tehran. So far, responsibility for the attack has not been claimed, but the British Foreign Secretary David Cameron he reiterated his invitation to Iran to “defuse tensions in the region”.
The spokesperson for Hamas, Sami Abu Zuhri, said that Jordan’s attack was “a message to the American administration.” “The continuation of American-Zionist aggression in Gaza risks provoking a regional explosion,” he declared Abu Zuhri.
The role of the United States in the conflict in the Middle East
The escalating conflict in the Middle East presents a challenge for Biden in an election year. THE Republican politicians they immediately targeted Biden for the deadly attack, including his predecessor Donald Trump, who described the situation as a “consequence of Joe Biden’s weakness and surrender.”
According to the Pentagon, US and allied forces in Iraq and Syria have been targeted since mid-October more than 150 attacks and Washington has carried out retaliations in both countries. Many of the attacks on US personnel were claimed by the Islamic resistance in Iraqan alliance of Iran-linked armed groups that oppose U.S. support for Israel in the Gaza conflict.
The latest round of the conflict between Israel and Hamas began on October 7, with Hamas’s unprecedented attack on Israel, which caused around 1,140 deaths, mostly civilians, followed by the Israeli military offensive that killed at least 26,422 people in Gaza. Anger over this campaign has grown across the region, with violence involving Iranian-backed groups in Lebanon, Iraq and Syria, as well as Yemen. There have been almost daily exchanges of fire between Hezbollah and Israel in Lebanon. The US forces are directly involved in Iraq, Syria and Yemen.
The United States and Great Britain have both carried out attacks against Houthi rebels of Yemen, supported by Iran, who have been attacking ships in the Red Sea in support of the Palestinians in Gaza for over two months.