Austin says Iran is training and funding militias that target U.S. forces
Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III on Thursday stopped short of blaming Iran for attacks that killed three U.S. service members in Jordan on Sunday, but said Tehran trained and financed the militia groups that targeted U.S. troops and commercial shipping in the Middle East. aimed east.
In a rare show of bravado, Mr. Austin continued the Biden administration's promises of retaliation. Asked why the administration was predicting a days-long retaliation campaign, Mr. Austin said the Iranian-backed militias “have a lot of capacity.”
He paused and added, “I have a lot more.”
President Biden has pledged that the United States will respond to Sunday's attacks on a remote base used by U.S. forces in Jordan. The dead were Sgt. William Jerome Rivers, 46, of Carrollton, Ga.; Specialist Kennedy Ladon Sanders, 24, of Waycross, Georgia; and Specialist Breonna Alexsondria Moffett, 23, of Savannah, Georgia. The Pentagon says 40 US troops were injured.
Biden administration officials say the drone strike crossed a red line and the president will not respond in any way.
Mr. Austin reiterated that during a news conference on Thursday. “We will respond when we choose, where we choose and how we choose,” he said.
Iran has indicated that it will not escalate tensions with the United States. The head of Iran's Revolutionary Guards said Wednesday that Tehran “was not seeking war.” And Kataib Hezbollah, the Iran-backed militia that U.S. officials say is responsible for the attack in Jordan, said it would suspend military operations in Iraq, where it operates.
A statement from the group indicated that it was under pressure from Iran and Iraq to stop attacking US forces.
But the head of the Revolutionary Guard also warned that Iran was prepared to respond if attacked.
“You have tested us and we know each other – we will not leave any threat unanswered,” General Hossein Salami, the main commander of the powerful military organization, told Iranian state news media.