An archive photo of an armored vehicle carrying the flag of the Iraqi Hezbollah Brigades (Al Jazeera)

The armed Iraqi Hezbollah Brigades said that it would suspend its military and security operations against the American forces in order to prevent any embarrassment to the Iraqi government, against the backdrop of the repercussions of the first attack that inflicted human losses on the American forces since the outbreak of the Al-Aqsa flood on the seventh of last October.

Kataib Hezbollah confirmed in a statement issued on Tuesday evening that Iran does not know how to operate and has often objected to its escalation against American forces.

Farhad Alaeddin, political advisor to the Iraqi Prime Minister, Muhammad Shiaa Al-Sudani, said that the decision of the Iraqi Hezbollah Brigades came after days of efforts by the Prime Minister to stop the escalation, and he called on all concerned parties to support efforts to prevent any escalation.

The US Department of Defense (the Pentagon) refrained from commenting on Kataib Hezbollah’s decision, and said, “Actions are truer than words.”

The drone attack on Sunday on an American logistical base located in the Jordanian desert on the borders with Iraq and Syria resulted in the death of 3 American soldiers and the wounding of dozens, according to the US Army.

The Pentagon said that the drone attack on Sunday on an American military base in the Jordanian desert on the borders with Iraq and Syria bore the fingerprints of the Iraqi Hezbollah Brigades, considering it an “escalation” because it led to the killing of 3 soldiers.

The American base, Tower 22, was targeted by a drone attack that left Americans dead and wounded (French)

American options

US President Joe Biden announced - Tuesday - that he had made a decision on how to respond to the attack, which is likely to take the form of “several” retaliatory operations.

In response to a question about Iran, the US President said, “I hold them responsible, meaning that they are supplying weapons to the people who carried out this (attack).”

Biden did not provide further details during a quick conversation with reporters at the White House, before leaving to campaign in Florida (southeast).

However, US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby later told reporters on Air Force One, “It is very possible that you will witness a gradual approach in this case, not just one measure, but the possibility of taking several measures.”

Last Sunday, what is known as the Islamic Resistance in Iraq claimed responsibility for attacks on 3 bases, including a base on the border between eastern Syria and northeastern Jordan.

In this regard, Iraqi official media reported that Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein, in a phone call with his Jordanian counterpart Ayman Al-Safadi - today, Tuesday - denounced the attack that targeted an American military site in Jordan near the Syrian border.

The media added that Hussein and Al-Safadi stressed the need to keep the two countries and the region away from military threats from any party.

Armed groups, which America says are loyal to Iran, have launched attacks from Lebanon, Yemen, Iraq and Syria on Israeli and American targets since the outbreak of the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip on October 7.

The US Army had announced the killing of 3 of its members and the wounding of dozens of others in a march attack on an American base in Jordan. Washington accused armed groups backed by Iran of being behind this attack and vowed to respond to it.

The name of the base was not mentioned, but an informed source identified it as Tower 22 in Jordan.

The Tower 22 base enjoys an important strategic location in Jordan, at the farthest point in the northeast of the country where the Kingdom’s borders meet with Syria and Iraq. There is little publicly available information about the base. But it includes logistical support, and there are 350 soldiers from the US Army and Air Force at this base.

Iran denied the American accusations and said that the purpose of these accusations is political, stressing that the accusation is “false” and that the accusations are baseless, and it is a conspiracy by those whose interest is to drag America into a battle in the region.

Source: Al Jazeera + Reuters