US President Joe Biden is facing mounting pressure to confront Iran after three US soldiers were killed in a drone strike in Jordan.
Biden is preparing a decisive response to Iran
A person familiar with the U.S. position said the strike, which also wounded at least 34 people, would prompt a more robust response than the U.S. took after Hamas militants attacked Israel on October 7 and sparked a new Middle East conflagration.
One possibility is covert action, in which the U.S. would strike Iran without declaring its involvement but sending a clear signal. The Biden administration could also attack Iranian officials, as former President Donald Trump did when he ordered the killing of General Qassem Soleimani in Baghdad in 2020.
As Bloomberg points out, this attack presents Biden with a decision that will be one of the most important of his presidency. He wants to punish those responsible for the attack and deter Iran from its actions in the region. But it could bring the U.S. into confrontation with Tehran's leadership, which has already ventured into the area since the Hamas onslaught, launching attacks in Iraq and Pakistan.
He must also weigh the potential for further economic turmoil as the U.S. battles Houthi rebels — another Iranian proxy — who have damaged global shipping by attacking commercial vessels in the Red Sea, which accounts for 12 per cent of the world's merchant shipping.
Biden has already promised to take retaliatory measures after the attack on the base called "Tower 22", located in northeastern Jordan near the borders of Iraq and Syria.
We will bring all those responsible to justice at the time and in the manner we choose, he said.
Attacks on American bases
U.S. bases in Iraq and Syria have come under repeated fire from Iran-backed groups since the war between Israel and Hamas began on October 7. Although many U.S. personnel were injured in these two countries, none of them died.
The attack in Jordan marked the first American death by enemy attack since Israel and Hamas went to war. The two Navy SEALs were presumed dead last week after they went missing on January 11 during a seizure of Iranian weapons destined for the Houthis.
In the US, Biden is already under increasing pressure to take direct action against Iran, and Republicans in Congress have accused Biden of a timid response to the actions of Iranian proxies.
The Biden administration's response so far has only provoked more attacks, Sen. Roger Wicker, the top Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, said in a statement. "It's time to act fast and decisively so that the whole world can see it."
Analysts say the U.S. is on the verge of further involvement in the regional conflict. The U.S. has launched dozens of strikes against Iranian proxies in Iraq and Syria and launched a wave of strikes against the Houthis in Yemen.
None of this has worked so far. Republicans like Wicker argue that Iran has only been emboldened.
