On Sunday, President Joe Biden and U.S. officials reported that three U.S. service members lost their lives, and a minimum of 34 others sustained injuries in a drone attack carried out by militants supported by Iran. The incident occurred in northeastern Jordan, close to the Syrian border. The attack took place at a base in the town of Rukban, which is close to the border with Syria, and was targeted at living quarters, which could explain the high casualty count, according to U.S. Central Command. Eight injured troops were medically evacuated to receive higher-level care, CENTCOM said. The names of the dead were not immediately released pending notification of next of kin. The wounded are being evaluated for possible traumatic brain injury, CENTCOM said.
The attack is the first deadly strike by Iran-backed militants against American forces since the Israel-Hamas war erupted in October. It marks a significant escalation in tensions that have engulfed the Middle East. It also highlights the risk of a broader conflict that would directly involve Iran, raising concerns in the United States and many Western nations about the prospect of Iran launching attacks on U.S. interests.
An Iranian-backed group called the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, or Kata’ib Hezbollah, claimed responsibility for the attack. It is part of a loose alliance of armed groups that oppose U.S. support for Israel in the Gaza conflict.
In a statement, the White House said it was “outraged and deeply saddened” by the deaths of the troops and that the United States would hold all those responsible to account. It called for a “response from all those who violate international norms of behavior and hostilities against the United States.”
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin briefed Mr. Biden about the attack on Sunday morning. He said the small installation, which Jordan does not publicly disclose, includes U.S. engineering, aviation, and logistics troops deployed there “to work for the lasting defeat of ISIS.” It is about 20 kilometers (12 miles) north of the U.S. military garrison in al-Tanf in Syria, at an intersection of the borders of Iraq, Syria, and Jordan. Three officials said the drone hit near troops’ sleeping quarters, explaining the high casualty count.
On Monday, Iran denied involvement in the attack and dismissed accusations that it backed the rebels. A spokesman for the foreign ministry, Nasser Kanaani, said the claims were motivated by political goals to reverse regional realities and were “influenced by third parties, including the child-killing Zionist regime.”
Mr. Kanaani was speaking at a meeting with representatives of the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries, which has suspended payments to the UN-run Palestinian relief agency because it has allegedly paid Palestinians involved in violence during the Israeli-Hamas war. He said the allegations were based on “false information.” The spokesman accused the U.S. of seeking to turn the region into an arena for proxy warfare and a new Cold War against Iran, which it has accused of trying to dominate the Middle East by funding its proxies in Lebanon, Yemen, Syria, and Iraq.