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President Joe Biden announces retaliation after the latest escalation in the Middle East crisis.
It’s all about this: Three US soldiers were killed in a drone attack on a US base near the Syrian border over the weekend. More than two dozen others were injured, US President Joe Biden said in Washington. The attack was carried out by “radical, Iranian-backed militant groups” operating in Syria and Iraq. Biden announced retaliation. “Have no doubt – we will hold all those responsible accountable. At a time and in a way we choose,” Biden said.
There is a danger of stumbling unwillingly into an all-out war.
This is what we know about the attack: According to media reports, there were a total of four attacks on US bases in Syria and Jordan, but only one case resulted in dead and injured US soldiers. “It is the first attack in this conflict in which American soldiers were killed,” says SRF correspondent Thomas Gutersohn in Amman, Jordan. Since Israel’s military operation in the Gaza Strip began following Hamas’ terrorist attack on October 7, pro-Iranian militias have attacked US bases in Syria and Iraq more than a hundred times – but according to US information, each time without causing any major damage.
This is still unclear: There is no reliable information about which US base exactly where the fatalities and injured soldiers are to be mourned. According to US media, an outpost of US forces stationed in Jordan near the Syrian border was affected, but the government in Amman denies this. “This indicates that Jordan does not want to be drawn further into the conflict,” says Gutersohn. According to Jordanian information, the attacked US base is in southern Syria.
Legend:
Reuters/Muhammad Hamed
A total of around 4,000 US soldiers are stationed in Jordan, most of them at a larger base in northeast Jordan. The USA also operates several army bases in the south and northeast of Syria, primarily to combat IS. However, the Shiite militias that have been active against US bases in the region since mid-October certainly do not belong to IS, because it is formed by Sunnis. In the past, IS supporters had always presented themselves as declared mortal enemies of the Shiites.
This is how Iran reacts: Iran denied the accusation of being involved in the attack. The Foreign Ministry in Tehran said that “resistance groups” in the region would not receive any orders from Tehran. They would “decide on actions based on their own principles.” Correspondent Gutersohn says: “It is quite possible that the militant Shiite groups actually plan their operations autonomously – but it is very likely that money and equipment come from Iran.”
Possible consequences: “The Middle East conflict is heating up to a higher and higher level almost every week,” notes Gutersohn. Attacks like the one now on the US soldiers are individual, small escalation steps – and nobody actually has an interest in a major escalation explosion in the region, especially not Iran or the USA. But: “The ever-continuing, small steps of escalation pose the risk of stumbling into an all-out war against our will,” fears the correspondent.