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‘I do hold them responsible…’: Biden vows response to Jordan attack, reacts on Iran's involvement
Speaking to reporters, Biden confirmed that he had decided on how to react to the Jordan attack, which an Iran-backed militant group is accused of carrying out.
Vowing response to the deaths of three US soldiers who were killed in a drone strike in northeast Jordan, President Joe Biden on Tuesday stated that he holds Iran responsible for the attack, but added that he does not "think we need a wider war in the Middle East."
The deceased soldiers have been identified as Specialist Breonna Moffett, Specialist Kennedy Ladon Sanders, and Sgt. William Rivers, said the US Defense Department.
Speaking to reporters, the US President confirmed that he had decided on how to react to the Jordan attack, which an Iran-backed militia group Islamic Resistance in Iraq is accused of carrying out.
“I don’t think we need a wider war in the Middle East. That’s not what I’m looking for,” Biden said.
Responding to a question if he hold Iran responsible for the brutal attack, the POTUS said, “I do hold them responsible in the sense that they’re supplying the weapons to the people who did it.”
The midnight drone strike on a small outpost in Jordan killed three service members and injured at least 34 others over the weekend.
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Iran denies involvement in Jordan attack
Meanwhile, Iran has rejected its involvement in the drone strike that killed three American soldiers.
"Regional resistance factions do not receive orders from Iran, and Iran does not interfere in the decisions of the resistance to support Palestine or defend itself," Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanaani said while addressing a press briefing on Monday, as per CBS News.
Iran's statement came after Pentagon spokesperson Sabrina Singh held an Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-backed militia responsible for the attack and stated the United States was trying to determine which one.
"Iran continues to arm and equip these groups to launch these attacks, and we will certainly hold them responsible," Singh said.
Earlier, President Biden condemned the attack as "despicable and wholly unjust," saying that the United States "will hold all those responsible to account at a time and in a manner of our choosing."
The strike was deemed to be the bloodiest attack on US service members since 13 Americans died in a suicide bombing in Kabul as the US military prepared to withdraw from Afghanistan in 2021.
