The president promised to hold those accountable for their deaths after the White House and military authorities announced on Sunday that the first American soldiers to die in the Middle East since the beginning of the Israel-Hamas conflict.
An announcement from the U.S. In a statement, the Biden administration blamed Iran-backed forces for the murders of three U.S. service members that were murdered in a drone strike that occurred overnight on a small U.S. outpost in Jordan, according to Central Command, or CENTCOM. According to the report, the event harmed at least twenty more personnel.
“As a matter of respect for the families and in accordance with [Department of Defense] policy, the identities of the servicemembers will be withheld until 24 hours after their next of kin have been notified,” the statement said.
Meanwhile, President Joe Biden declared that his administration will take appropriate measures against the guilty. No government or entity has taken responsibility thus far.
“Today, America’s heart is heavy,” he said in a statement Sunday. “Last night, three U.S. service members were killed—and many wounded—during an unmanned aerial drone attack on our forces stationed in northeast Jordan near the Syria border.”
The likelihood of an escalation increased because they were the first American casualties in months of attacks by Iranian-backed militias against American soldiers around the Middle East during the Israel-Hamas conflict in Gaza. Although U.S. officials were still trying to pinpoint the exact group behind the attack, they believe that one of the several organizations supported by Iran is to blame.
Jordan, a nation surrounded by Saudi Arabia, Syria, Israel, the West Bank, Iraq, and the Palestinian territories, did not respond right away. Usually, the US has 3,000 soldiers stationed in Jordan.
In his remarks, the president then blamed the assaults on "radical" groups supported by Iran that were active in Syria and Iraq. He said that the US "will hold all those responsible to account at a time and in a manner our choosing," but he did not elaborate. Then he referred to the deceased as "patriots" and said that they had been the targets of a "unjust attack."
“Together, we will keep the sacred obligation we bear to their families. We will strive to be worthy of their honor and valor. We will carry on their commitment to fight terrorism,” President Biden said.
A government spokesperson named Muhannad Moubaideen was quoted by Jordanian state television as stating that the strike took place in Syria, over the border, and not inside the kingdom. The Epoch Times was unable to immediately confirm the contradicting facts.
Drone and missile assaults against American troops' sites in Iraq and Syria have occurred after Hamas launched a series of terrorist strikes against Israel on October 7 that resulted in the deaths of approximately 1,300 civilians. The attack on Jordan is the first time that US troops have been attacked there in the course of the conflict.
Furthermore, longstanding strongman and Iran ally Bashar al-Assad's Syria is currently in the throes of a civil war, and U.S. officials have long claimed that the country serves as a launching pad for troops backed by Iran, including the Lebanese organization Hezbollah. Numerous terrorist organizations and Shiite militias with Iranian support are active in Iraq.
It is thought that Jordan, a steadfast friend of the West and an important authority in Jerusalem due to its supervision of sacred sites there, has conducted airstrikes in Syria to dislodge drug smugglers, including one that claimed nine lives earlier this month.
Few specifics were given, but the U.S. military assumed two Navy SEALS had killed in January when they went missing during an operation off the coast of Somalia. According to officials, they were trying to intercept weapons built in Iran that were being transferred to the terrorist organization known as the Houthi, which is based in Yemen and has attacked American military vessels and commercial vehicles several times since the Israel-Gaza conflict began.
According to officials, the Houthis assaulted a tanker in the Gulf of Aden this past weekend that was connected to the British. Eventually, a fire aboard the ship was extinguished.
However, in a social media post, UK Defense Secretary Grant Shapps called the attack "intolerable and illegal" and stated, "It is our duty to protect freedom of navigation in the Red Sea, and we remain as committed to that cause as ever."
According to a Houthi spokesman, the Marlin Luanda was a British ship that had to be bombed because of "American-British aggression against our country," Yemen. Officials from the US and the UK, including CENTCOM, asserted that the attacks on commercial ships are unrelated to the situation in Gaza.
