US President Joe Biden announced on Tuesday that he had decided how the United States would respond to Sunday’s drone attack by pro-Iranian groups on US troops stationed in northeastern Jordan, near the Syrian border, after examining how to punish the groups without causing a prolonged attack war, writes Reuters.

Speaking to reporters as he left the White House on a campaign trip to Florida, Joe Biden — under mounting pressure to respond in a way that would end the attacks for good — said he made the decision after consulting with his advisers, but did not. provide details

“I don’t think we need a wider war in the Middle East”

However, Biden said the United States did not want a “broader war” in the Middle East after other US officials said the United States did not want war with Iran, which has denied any involvement in the drone attack on US troops. in Jordan, including three dead and 34 wounded military personnel.

When asked by reporters if he had decided how he would respond to this attack, Biden replied: “Yes. But I don’t think we need a wider war in the Middle East. That’s not what I’m after.”

He also said he believed the Iranians were “responsible” in the sense that they supplied weapons to those who carried out the attacks.

It is the first time US soldiers have been killed in the Middle East since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip, raising fears of escalating tensions. Sunday’s attack on US troops was the deadliest in the region since the Abbey Gate bombing, which killed 13 US troops in the final days of the withdrawal from Afghanistan.

Iran-backed militants have targeted US military facilities in Iraq and Syria more than 160 times since October 2023, and several Republican lawmakers have called for the US to strike directly at Iran to send a clear message.

In recent months, the US has carried out several strikes on Iranian proxies’ weapons depots in Iraq and Syria. So far, none of those strikes have deterred the militants, whose attacks have wounded more than 120 US troops in the region since October.

Retired Lt. Gen. Mark Gertling said Sunday’s killing of U.S. service members “definitely crossed the president’s red line,” and officials and analysts expected a stronger response that would not necessarily be limited to one country or one day. But officials suggested the US was unlikely to strike inside Iran.

Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said the environment in the Middle East is as dangerous as it has been in the region “since at least 1973 and possibly even before that.”