US President Joe Biden says he has “decided” on how he wants the country to respond to a recent deadly attack against American forces in Jordan, but alleges that he is seeking to avoid a “wider war” in the West Asia region.
“Yes,” Biden replied after being asked if he had chosen how the United States sought to retaliate against the Sunday drone attack. The strike targeted a small US outpost in Jordan, leaving three American troops dead and injuring at least 34 others.
The US president, who was speaking to reporters while leaving the White House on a campaign trip to Florida, however, did not elaborate.
He, meanwhile, alleged, “I don’t think we need a wider war… That’s not what I’m looking for.”
Repeating an earlier claim made by himself and other US officials, Biden purported that he held Iran “responsible in the sense that they’re supplying the weapons.”
In a statement on Monday, Iran’s mission to the United Nations said Tehran had no links to attacks on US forces in the region as they were related to conflict between regional resistance groups and the US military.
The statement was echoed in a letter that was written by Amir Saeid Iravani, Iran’s permanent ambassador to the United Nations, to the world body’s Security Council.
Iravani categorically rejected accusations leveled by the United States about the Islamic Republic’s involvement in anti-American operations in the region.
He asserted unequivocally that “there is no group affiliated with the Islamic Republic of Iran’s Armed Forces, whether in Iraq, Syria, or elsewhere that operates directly or indirectly under the control of the Islamic Republic of Iran or acts on its behalf.”
“Therefore, the Islamic Republic of Iran is not responsible for the actions of any individual or group within the region,” Iran’s UN ambassador added.
