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LIVE Iran denies involvement in drone

strike that killed three US troops
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Summary
Iran denies it was involved in the drone attack which killed three US troops and injured 34 on a US base
in Jordan, near the Syria border
US President Joe Biden said the attack had been carried out by Iran-backed militant groups operating in
Syria and Iraq
"We shall respond," he said at a campaign event in South Carolina on Sunday
It is the first time US soldiers have been killed by strikes in the region aer Hamas's 7 October attack on
Israel sparked the war in Gaza
US media report the attack was on Tower 22, in north-east Jordan
It has sparked fears of an escalation in the conflict in the region

Live Reporting Related Stories

Edited
by
Nathan Get involved
Williams

18:55

Iran needs to de-escalate, says UK foreign secretary

Reuters

UK foreign secretary David Cameron has urged Iran to de-escalate the situation
following the attack on the US base.

"We strongly condemn attacks by Iran-aligned militia groups against US forces. We

continue to urge Iran to de-escalate in the region," he posted to X.

"Our thoughts are with those US personnel who have lost their lives and all those who
have sustained injuries, as well as their families."

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18:32

How the US government responded

 Reuters

As we've been reporting, President Joe Biden labelled the attack which killed three US
troops "despicable and wholly unjust".

He also vowed the US “will hold all those responsible to account at a time and in a
manner our choosing”.

Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said that he was "outraged and deeply saddened" by
the deaths, and echoed Biden’s vow to respond.

Senate leader Chuck Schumer said: "My heart is with the families of those killed and
injured. We must work to hold those responsible accountable.”

House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries also called for accountability for “every single
malignant actor responsible”.

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18:08

Iran and US want to avoid wider conflict – former US ambassador

The former US ambassador to Yemen Gerald Feierstein says he thinks both the US and
Iran will be looking at ways to avoid further escalation.

Speaking to the BBC World Service, he says the US administration will be under "great
deal of pressure" to step up its operations against militant groups in the region.

But Feierstein says he believes it is unlikely President Biden would want to go as far as a
direct strike against Iran, as some US politicians have been calling for.
"I still think the US administration would like to avoid [further] escalation," he says,
adding that the view in Washington seems to be that the Iranians also don't want a wider
war.

"So far everybody seems to have been looking for a way that is manageable without
triggering a wholesale conflict in the region."

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17:51

Yemen’s Houthis say they fired missile at US warship

Yemen’s rebel Houthi movement claims it launched a missile at a US warship in the Gulf
of Aden on Sunday evening.

Military spokesman Yahya Sarea said in a statement that the Iran-backed group’s naval
forces targeted the USS Lewis B Puller, expeditionary mobile base platform ship
deployed in the region to support the US 5th Fleet.

The operation was part of “military measures in defence of Yemen, reaffirmation of the
decision to support the oppressed Palestinian people”, he added.

There was no immediate comment from the US military.

The Houthis have carried out dozens of drone and missile attacks on merchant and naval
vessels in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden since mid-November in response to Israel’s war
with Hamas in the Gaza Strip. The US said in January it would re-designate the Houthis
as "global terrorists".

On Friday, the destroyer USS Carney shot down an anti-ship ballistic missile fired by the
Houthis in the Gulf of Aden, according to the US military's Central Command.

And on Saturday, the British destroyer HMS Diamond shot down a drone targeting it in
the Red Sea, the UK ministry of defence said.

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17:35

How US Republicans responded

 Reuters

Former President Donald Trump, who is running to become the Republican nominee for
the election later this year, said the attack "would never have happened if I was
president".

A reminder, that tensions between the US and Iran were severe during Trump’s term as
president, and US forces in Syria were attacked several times between 2016 and 2020,
including one that killed four troops.

Trump’s rival in the contest for Republican presidential nominee, Nikki Haley,
encouraged rally-goers to “li up” the families of the casualties of the attack “in prayer”.

Senate Republican minority leader Mitch McConnell said: "The entire world now watches
for signs that the president is finally prepared to exercise American strength to compel
Iran to change its behaviour. Our enemies are emboldened."

Senator Lindsey Graham said the Pentagon should respond by targeting Iran “not only as
reprisal for the killing of our forces, but as deterrence against future aggression.”

This was also echoed by Tom Cotton, a Republican senator from Arkansas, who called for
"devastating military retaliation" against Iran.

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17:26
Violence has spread across the Middle East
Hugo Bachega
Middle East correspondent, in Lebanon

It was almost inevitable that American troops would be killed. Since the start of Israel’s
war against Hamas in Gaza, in response to the Hamas attacks in Israel on 7 October, US
bases in Iraq and Syria have been attacked more than 150 times, according to US
officials.

President Biden has accused “radical Iran-backed militant groups” in Syria and Iraq for
the latest attack, which killed three US servicemen in a base near the Jordan-Syria
border, and vowed to respond.

The attention is now on how this response is going to look like. So far, American forces
have carried out limited retaliatory strikes in Iraq and Syria, which have been unable to
stop the attacks.

This dramatic development shows how violence has spread across the Middle East amid
the war in Gaza.

EPA

Hezbollah and Israel have been exchanging fire almost every day along the border, fuelling fears of a
major confrontation

Apart from the attacks in Iraq and Syria, the Houthis in Yemen have targeted commercial
vessels in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, leading to retaliatory strikes by the US, the
UK and other countries.

Here in Lebanon, Hezbollah has attacked positions in northern Israel almost every day.
All these players are supported by Iran, part of it calls the "Axis of Resistance".
Iran said it was not involved in the attack in Jordan. President Biden, meanwhile, will face
pressure to give a strong reaction, and some of his Republican critics are already calling
for strikes in Iran itself.

"Hit Iran now. Hit them hard," Senator Lindsey Graham said. This is unlikely, as the White
House has been trying to prevent a wider conflict in the region. A large military reaction,
which could have unpredictable consequences, is something President Biden wants to
avoid at all costs.

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17:16

Iran says accusations of its involvement are 'baseless'

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanani this morning dismissed as
"baseless" the US accusation about Iran's involvement in yesterday's drone attack on the
US base in Jordan.

Kanani insisted that Iran was "not involved in the decision making of Resistance groups"
in how they chose to "defend Palestinians or their own countries". Tehran refers to its
networks of proxies and allied groups in the region as the "Axis of Resistance".

Joe Biden has said that the attack was carried out by "radical Iran-backed militant
groups".

Earlier, a spokesperson of Iran's UN mission said Iran had "nothing to do with the attacks
in question", adding "the conflict has been initiated by the US military against resistance
groups in Iraq and Syria, and such operations are reciprocal between them".

Ultra-conservative daily newspaper Keyhan praised "the busy day of the Iraqi Resistance"
with "eight attacks" on US and Israeli targets in "less than 24 hours".

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17:07

Biden's response needs to be carefully chosen

 Gary O'Donoghue
Washington correspondent

The US has been able to contain its response to around 150 attacks on its bases in the
Middle East since October simply because the strikes by Iranian-backed groups have led
to not much more than minor injuries.

But the fact that three US service personnel have been killed this time means the
response will have to be different - both because this is an election year and because
public opinion will clamour for it.

Typically presidents ask for a menu of military options in these cases - which could range
from hitting the group responsible, all the way to direct assaults on Iranian assets -
something already demanded by one senior Republican senator.

The problem for Joe Biden is finding a path which is at once proportionate and avoids
accusations of weakness - while avoiding a wider escalation - not an easy thing to
achieve in the current circumstances.

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16:59

What we know abut the attack so far

Planet Labs/AP
 The attacked base was named by US officials as Tower 22

Details are still emerging following the attack on the US base, but here is what we know
so far:

The attack targeted a US base in north-eastern Jordan, near the Syrian border, known
at Tower 22

It’s believed the drone struck living quarters in the base

Three US troops were killed and at least 34 are being evaluated for possible
traumatic brain injuries, US officials say

The US is blaming Iran-backed military groups over the attack. Iran has denied any
involvement

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16:50

Not the first US deaths since 7 October

US CENTRAL COMMAND

The attack on a US base is the first drone attack that killed US troops, but this is not the
first US military fatality amid escalating tensions in the region since Hamas's 7 October
attack on Israel.

Two US Navy Seals who went missing during an operation to seize Iranian-made
weapons - bound for Houthis in Yemen - were presumed dead, the US military said
weapons - bound for Houthis in Yemen - were presumed dead, the US military said
earlier this week.

The incident took place on 11 January when commandos were boarding a ship off the
coast of Somalia.

According to media reports, one was swept away and the second jumped in to save him.

"We mourn the loss of our two Naval Special Warfare warriors, and we will forever
honour their sacrifice and example," said the head of Central Command, Gen Michael
Erik Kurilla.

The US Navy identified the two as 27-year-old Navy Special Warfare Operator 2nd Class
Nathan Gage Ingram and 37-year-old Navy Special Warfare Operator 1st Class
Christopher J Chambers.

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16:41

Iran has an interest in making life uncomfortable for the US

Paul Adams
Diplomatic correspondent

Ever since tensions erupted across the Middle East, in the wake of the Hamas attacks of
7 October and Israel’s offensive in response, Washington has been trying to prevent the
conflict from spinning out of control.

Its forces across the Middle East have experienced scores of missile and drone attacks
which, perhaps inevitably, have now resulted in the deaths of American servicemen.

How does Washington respond, in a way that doesn’t simply tip the region closer to a
wider war?

For all the danger of this moment, which pits US forces against Iranian allies and proxies
around the region, it’s still the case that neither America nor Iran is interested in seeing
things get worse.

But as long as the war rages in Gaza, Iran has an interest in making life as uncomfortable
as possible for Israel’s American backer. And that means that the risk of escalation is
constant.
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16:37

An escalation fraught with risk

Lyse Doucet
Chief international correspondent

Getty Images

The death of three US service members, and injuring of many others, now ratchets up
the pressure on the US commander-in-chief, President Joe Biden.

This sharp escalation seemed to have been all but inevitable.

Since mid-October, US military installations in Iraq and Syria have repeatedly come
under attack by Iran-backed militias, injuring a growing number of US soldiers. The US
has repeatedly retaliated by striking targets in both countries.

But this time, the US will need to consider whether to hold Iran itself responsible. It’s an
option, and an escalation, fraught with significant risk.
The US knows it now needs to be seen to do more to protect the lives of its servicemen
and women.

The president’s critics will exploit this crisis to accuse him again of being “so on Iran”.

But his presidency has been about fighting faraway wars with clear red lines to avoid
dragging Americans into a much costlier engagement.

Both Washington and Tehran, long locked in animosity, have carefully avoided direct
confrontation in this current conflagration.

Read more from Lyse Doucet here

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16:36

Welcome back
Nadia Ragozhina
Live reporter

Good morning. We are restarting our coverage of the drone attack at a US base near the
Syria-Jordan border that killed three American troops and injured dozens others.

Here is a quick recap of the latest lines:

Iran has denied that it was behind the attack - its mission to the UN said "Iran had no
connection and had nothing to do with the attack on the US base"

The attack was on the Tower 22 airbase, US media reported, which is in Rukban,
northeast Jordan

It remains unclear who exactly is behind the attack. US Secretary of Defence Lloyd
Austin blamed it on "Iran-backed militias" and US president Joe Biden vowed
retaliation "at a time and place of our choosing"

In addition to those killed, US officials said at least 34 others were injured. Eight
were evacuated for medical treatment outside of the base, and some are in critical
but stable condition

Jordan has condemned the attack and said it continues to co-operate with the US to
secure the border and to fight terrorism

Stay with us as we bring you all the latest lines and developments.

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