3 US Army Reserve soldiers were killed in a march attack on an American position in northeastern Jordan (Reuters)
American officials said that the military response to the killing of 3 American soldiers in Jordan may continue for days or weeks, while President Joe Biden will attend the ceremony on Friday to return their bodies to the United States.
NBC quoted American officials as saying that the military response may include targets in various countries outside Iran.
The officials added that the upcoming operation will be Biden's strongest response to the militias that have launched more than 150 attacks on American forces since the start of the Israeli war on the Gaza Strip.
NBC said that Biden asked his national security team whether the response would jeopardize talks on releasing detainees in the Gaza Strip, and that he decided to move forward with response measures, after his team reduced concerns about the talks.
In this context, the Washington Post quoted an American official as saying that Washington has strengthened its defenses in Jordan as it prepares for a broad response to last Sunday’s attack.
The American official explained that the options being considered by the United States include targets in Syria, Yemen and Iraq.
This comes at a time when US President Joe Biden is witnessing the return of the remains of 3 American soldiers killed in an attack in Jordan to the United States on Friday.
A military honoring ceremony will be held at the Dover Base in Delaware (northeast) when the bodies of the three soldiers, William Jerome Rivers, Kennedy Ladon Sanders, and Brianna Alexandria Moffitt, who were killed in a drone attack on a base in Jordan near the Syrian border, will be received.
Biden will join the families of those killed at the base, along with First Lady Jill Biden, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Charles Brown.
The White House said the Biden family will meet at the base with family members of those killed before the remains arrive. The president offered his condolences to the families of the victims in a phone call on Tuesday.
Biden - who has so far said that he does not want escalation in the Middle East or an open war with Iran - is facing pressure to respond firmly to Tehran.
American forces in Iraq and Syria have been subjected to more than 150 attacks with drones and missiles carried out by groups loyal to Iran since the outbreak of the war launched by Israel on Gaza in October.
Most of these attacks were claimed by the "Islamic Resistance in Iraq", which consists of factions supported by Iran, which announces action in support of the Palestinians and demands the departure of American forces from Iraq.
Source: Al Jazeera + agencies