The US President Joe Biden has approved a series of strikes over a few days on targets inside Iraq and Syria and Iranian personnel and various facilities.
CBS News has reported that the US strikes are in retaliation to drone attack that killed three American soldiers at Tower 22 base in northern Jordan near to the Syrian border on Sunday which left around 40 injured.
Military officials told CBS News that the timing of the strikes will be a major factor, the US can carryout attacks in any weather condition, but prefer to have better visibility to prevent civilians getting caught up in the attacks.
The US Secretary of Defence, Lloyd Austin held a news conference at the Pentagon and warned that they “will not tolerate” attacks on American troops.
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Austin said, “Our team mates were killed when a one-way drone struck their living quarters.
“We continue to gather the facts about this deadly attack.”
Austin said that “our team mates were killed by radical militia backed by Iran and operating inside Syria and Iraq.”
Austin added, “this is a dangerous moment in the Middle East” but the US “will take all necessary action.
“In the aftermath of the Hamas attack on Israel terrorist groups backed by Iran and funded by Iran have tried to create even more turmoil, including the Houthis.”
Austin said that the US will conduct a “multi-tiered response,” he added, “We have the ability to respond a number of times depending on what the situation is.”
The US Secretary of Defence said that they have “responded an number of times,” but now they will “take away even more capability.”
“This attack was egregious and the attack was on the sleeping area of our base,” he added.
“It’s time to take away even more capability that we have in the past.”
Russia and China issued a warning to the US against strikes and are urging restraint to prevent an escalation in the Middle East.
Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said, We have noted that Iran stated that it had nothing to do with the attack.
“We hope that all relevant parties will remain calm and restrained… in order to avoid falling into a vicious cycle of retaliation and prevent further escalation.”
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov called for there to be constructive measures to prevent any further escalation in the region.
Peskov said, “In our view, the overall level of tension is very alarming and, on the contrary, now is the time for steps to de-escalate tensions.
“This is the only thing that can help us prevent further spreading of the conflict, especially the Middle East conflict, and somehow achieve de-confliction and de-escalation.”
