Iran-backed militia kills 3 US troops just weeks after Biden said Tehran knows ‘not to do something’

President Biden struck a confidant tone earlier this month when requested whether or not Iran would retaliate after the U.S. and its allies bombed Yemen in response to ongoing assaults on industrial vessels within the Red Sea by Iran-backed Houthi militants. 

The January 12 alternate got here in the course of the president’s go to to Emmaus, Pennsylvania to tout what he regards because the success of his administration’s financial insurance policies. 

The president said he’d “already delivered a message to” the Islamic Republic after the Yemen bombings. 

“They know not to do anything,” President Biden said, assuring that assaults on the Houthis would proceed as long as they “continue this outrageous behavior.” 

He declined to say whether or not the U.S. was in a “de facto proxy war with Iran.” 

FILE: US President Joe Biden speaks to reporters as he visits Nowhere Coffee store in Emmaus, Pennsylvania, on January 12, 2024.  ( MANDEL NGAN/AFP by way of Getty Images)

But just a bit of over two weeks later, three American troops had been killed and dozens of others had been injured in a drone strike in northeast Jordan close to the Syrian border. Most, if not all, of these injured and killed had been Army troopers at a base referred to as Tower 22, which has been in help of the counter-ISIS mission for years, the official said.  

The president in addition to Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin blamed Iran-backed militias for Sunday’s assault. A coalition of Iran-backed militant teams calling themselves the “Islamic Resistance in Iraq” claimed accountability. 

Later Sunday, President Biden said the U.S. “had a tough day in the Middle East,” and vowed: “We shall respond.” 

The troops’ dying marked a serious escalation of tensions within the area, after months of strikes by militia teams on American forces within the area within the wake of the Israel-Hamas struggle. 

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President Biden said the United States “will hold all those responsible to account at a time and in a manner (of) our choosing.”

Secretary Austin said he was “outraged and deeply saddened” by the fatalities and the accidents. 

“These brave Americans and their families are in my prayers, and the entire Department of Defense mourns their loss,” he said. “Iran-backed militias are responsible for these continued attacks on U.S. forces, and we will respond at a time and place of our choosing.” 

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FILE: An image taken throughout a tour organized by the Jordanian Army reveals troopers patrolling alongside the border with Syria to stop trafficking, on February 17, 2022.  (KHALIL MAZRAAWI/afp/AFP by way of Getty Images)

He added: “The President and I will not tolerate attacks on American forces, and we will take all necessary actions to defend the United States, our troops, and our interests.”

The U.S. army base at al-Tanf in Syria is just 12 miles north of Tower 22. The Jordanian set up gives a crucial logistical hub for U.S. forces in Syria, together with these at al-Tanf, which is close to the intersection of the Iraq, Syria and Jordan borders.

Since the struggle in Gaza started Oct. 7, Iranian-backed militias have struck American army installations in Iraq greater than 60 instances and in Syria greater than 90 instances, with a mixture of drones, rockets, mortars and ballistic missiles. 

Scores of U.S. personnel have been wounded, together with some with traumatic mind accidents, in the course of the assaults.

The militias have said that their strikes are in retaliation for Washington’s help for Israel within the struggle in Gaza and have additionally said they intention to push U.S. forces out of the area.

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The U.S. in current months has struck targets in Iraq, Syria and Yemen to reply to assaults on American forces within the area and to deter Iran-backed Houthi rebels from persevering with to threaten industrial transport within the Red Sea.

Fox News’ Danielle Wallace, Liz Friden and The Associated Press contributed to this report.