Iran threatens to ‘decisively respond’ to any retaliatory U.S. strikes for drone attack
JERUSALEM — Iran threatened Wednesday to “decisively respond” to any U.S. attack on the Islamic Republic following President Biden’s linking of Tehran to the killing of three U.S. soldiers at a military base in Jordan.
The U.S. has signaled that it is preparing for retaliatory strikes in the Mideast in the wake of the Sunday drone attack that also injured at least 40 troops at Tower 22, a secretive base in northeastern Jordan that’s been crucial to the American presence in neighboring Syria.
However, concerns remain that any additional American strikes could further inflame a region already roiled by Israel’s ongoing war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip and the ongoing attacks by Yemen’s Houthi rebels on shipping in the Red Sea.
A U.S. Navy destroyer in the waterway shot down an anti-ship cruise missile launched by the Houthis late Tuesday, the latest attack targeting American forces patrolling the key maritime trade route, officials said.
The Iranian warnings first came from Amir Saeid Iravani, Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations in New York. He gave a briefing to Iranian journalists late Tuesday, according to the state-run IRNA news agency.
“The Islamic Republic would decisively respond to any attack on the county, its interests and nationals under any pretexts,” IRNA quoted Iravani as saying. He said any possible Iranian retaliation would be a “strong response,” without elaborating.
The deadly drone attack in Jordan is threatening to upend the Biden administration’s delicate effort to prevent the Israel-Hamas war from spiraling into a broader regional conflict.
The Iranian mission to the U.N. did not respond to requests for comment or elaboration Wednesday on Iravani’s remarks.
Iravani also denied that Iran and the U.S. had exchanged any messages over the last few days, either through intermediaries or directly. The pan-Arab satellite channel Al Jazeera, which is based in and funded by Qatar, reported earlier that such communication had taken place. Qatar often serves as an intermediary between Washington and Tehran.
“Such messages have not been exchanged,” Iravani said.
But Iran’s government has taken note of the U.S. threats of retaliation for the attack on the base in Jordan.
The U.S.-orchestrated coup in 1953 ousted Iranian Prime Minister Mohammad Mossadegh. Its legacy remains contentious and complicated for Iranian authorities and its people.
“Sometime, our enemies raise the threat, and nowadays we hear some threats in between words by American officials,” Revolutionary Guard commander Gen. Hossein Salami, who answers only to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said at an event Wednesday. “We tell them that you have experienced us and we know each other. We do not leave any threat without an answer. ...
“We are not after war, but we have no fear of war,” he added, according to IRNA.
On Saturday, a general in charge of Iran’s air defenses said they were at their “highest defensive readiness.” That raises concerns for commercial aviation traveling through and over Iran as well. After a U.S. drone strike killed a top general in 2020, Iranian air defenses mistakenly shot down a Ukrainian passenger plane, killing all 176 people on board.
Meanwhile, attacks by the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels continue in the Red Sea, most recently targeting a U.S. warship. The missile launched Tuesday night targeted the USS Gravely, an Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer, the U.S. military’s Central Command said in a statement.
Four countries want the United Nations’ highest court to rule that Iran illegally shot down a Ukrainian airliner in 2020 and must pay compensation.
“There were no injuries or damage reported,” the statement said.
A Houthi military spokesman, Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree, claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement Wednesday morning, calling it “a victory for the oppression of the Palestinian people and a response to the American-British aggression against our country.”
Saree claimed that the Houthis fired “several” missiles, something not acknowledged by the U.S. Navy. Houthi claims have been exaggerated in the past, and their missiles sometimes crash on land and fail to reach their targets.
The Houthis claimed without evidence Monday to have targeted the USS Lewis B. Puller, a floating landing base used by the Navy SEALs and others. The U.S. said there had been no attack.
The U.S. and British militaries bombed more than a dozen sites used by the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen, in a massive retaliatory operation.
Since November, the rebels have repeatedly targeted ships in the Red Sea over Israel’s offensive against Hamas in Gaza. But they have frequently targeted vessels with tenuous or no clear links to Israel, imperiling shipping on a key route for global trade between Asia, the Mideast and Europe.
The Houthis hit a commercial vessel with a missile Friday, sparking a fire that burned for hours.
The U.S. and Britain have launched multiple rounds of airstrikes targeting the Houthis as allied warships patrol the waterways affected by the attacks. The European Union also plans to launch a naval mission in the Red Sea within three weeks to help defend cargo ships against the Houthi attacks, the bloc’s top diplomat said Wednesday.
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