On Sunday, a drone attack targeted a base in Jordan, resulting in the death of three American troops. President Joe Biden attributed the attack to Iran-backed militants and pledged to hold the perpetrators accountable. This marks the first instance of American military personnel being killed by hostile fire in the Middle East since the beginning of the Israel-Hamas war. The incident is expected to escalate tensions in the region and raise concerns about a potential broader conflict involving Iran.
Hamas expressed the view that the soldiers’ deaths indicate Washington’s support for Israel, potentially straining relations with the Muslim world. President Biden, while gathering facts about the attack, asserted that it was carried out by radical Iran-backed militant groups operating in Syria and Iraq.
The US Central Command reported 25 wounded in the attack near the Syrian border, withholding the identities of the deceased pending family notification. Hamas warned that continued American-Zionist aggression on Gaza could lead to a “regional explosion.”
The conflict backdrop includes over 150 attacks on US and allied forces in Iraq and Syria since mid-October. The Islamic Resistance in Iraq, an alliance of Iran-linked groups opposing US support for Israel, has claimed responsibility for many of these attacks. The Israel-Hamas conflict, reignited in October, has seen significant casualties, with the US providing military aid to Israel.
The situation has escalated into violence involving Iran-backed groups in Lebanon, Iraq, and Syria, as well as Yemen. In Yemen, Huthi rebels, backed by Iran, have targeted shipping in support of Palestinians, prompting joint US and British strikes against them. The growing unrest across the Middle East raises concerns about a wider regional conflict directly involving Iran—a scenario the US aims to avoid.
