Joe Biden says he has decided response to Jordan attack

WASHINGTON: US President Joe Biden said Tuesday he had decided on a response to a drone strike that killed three American troops in Jordan, while insisting he did not want a wider war in the Middle East.

Facing growing pressure in a US election year, Biden said he held Iran responsible for supplying the weapons to the people who carried out the deadly attack on a military base.

The White House warned that "multiple actions" were likely in retaliation for the first fatal attack on US forces in the region since the Israel-Hamas war broke out in October.


A leading pro-Iranian group in Iraq said Tuesday that it would halt attacks on US forces as military action loomed, but there was no sign it would be enough to stop Washington retaliating.

"Yes," Biden told reporters as he headed for campaign fundraisers in Florida when asked if he had decided on his response, but he did not give details.

"I don't think we need a wider war in the Middle East. That's not what I'm looking for," he added. Tensions have soared in the region since the October 7 attacks by Hamas against Israel, with US forces in Iraq and Syria coming under attack more than 165 times in the intervening months.