FLASH
Shkruar nga Pamfleti
The first deaths of American soldiers require a different level of response. The president's advisers agreed to respond to the deadly attack...
This is the first attack on a US base in the Middle East, with three dead, since the start of the Israel-Hamas conflict in Gaza and the rekindling of tensions in the wider region.
The US has blamed armed groups linked to, funded and trained by Iran for Sunday's deadly drone strike on its base in Jordan.
The US government has so far carefully "weighed" the situation in the Middle East, preparing to respond to attacks against US targets, which increased rapidly after October 7. However, until Sunday's attack, these were casualty-free attacks.
President Biden and his close advisers will decide how far American retaliation will go, international analysts point out.
Among the possible actions the United States is considering is a "covert operation to strike Iran," according to a Bloomberg analysis. However, Washington "would not announce its participation in such a campaign."
Alternatively, according to Bloomberg, the US could "directly attack Iranian officials."
Regardless of what Washington does, the US president will have to make "one of the most important decisions" of his term and this could lead to an immediate confrontation between Washington and Tehran.
"It's the day President Biden and his team have feared would come for more than three months: the day when attacks by Iran-backed groups against US troops in the Middle East would cause casualties and increase pressure on the president to answer in kind. According to a New York Times analysis.
Since the October 7 attack by Hamas on Israel and the start of the conflict in Gaza, more than 160 attacks have been recorded targeting US military forces in the region.
Biden essentially ignored most of the attacks, which were successfully intercepted or caused little or no damage.
It authorized limited US strikes targeting buildings, weapons and infrastructure, primarily against the Houthis in Yemen, who have targeted shipping in the Red Sea.
Response type
The first deaths of American soldiers require a different level of response. In addition to the three American forces who died, more than 30 were wounded in the attack on the Jordanian-Syrian border.
The president's advisers agreed to respond to the deadly attack at another level, the NYT reported.
What remains unclear is whether Biden will strike targets inside Iran, as his Republican critics have urged him to do, arguing that otherwise he would be a "coward."
"Biden faces a dilemma: Does he want to simply react, or does he want to send a strong preemptive message," said Brian Katoulis, a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute who served in national security positions under President Bill Clinton.
"Biden promised to respond. The three American service members we lost were patriots in the highest sense," he said in a statement.
Intentional escalation?
The attack in Jordan was not fundamentally different compared to other attacks against American targets that have occurred in the region for more than three months, except for the fact that there were casualties.
The US government and intelligence agencies were examining Sunday whether it was a deliberate attempt by Iran to escalate the conflict, or whether the attack was originally designed to be limited, like previous ones, but in this case there were casualties after it was miscalculated. or was it a coincidence.
US officials have stressed for months that Iran does not want a direct war with the United States.
Iran is using the forces it aligns with to pressure the United States and Israel as Tel Aviv continues to crack down on Hamas in Gaza.
The wider conflict may serve Iran's goals, however, and US officials have long believed that Tehran understands that direct war with the United States would be deeply damaging.
The attack in Jordan came at a time when US officials have claimed that Iran may be seeking to rein in some of the organizations it supports, a theory that could be disproved by the attack in Jordan.
Iran denies the allegations
Iran, for its part, responded today, Monday, to the accusation that it is responsible for the drone attack on the Jordanian-Syrian border, with a press statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs that was broadcast by the official news agency of the Islamic Republic. , IRNA.
"These accusations have been formulated with a political goal, which is to overturn the realities in the region," said the representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Naser Kanaani, according to IRNA, commenting on the statements of the head of British diplomacy. David Cameron, who called on Tehran to choose "de-escalation".
"It is also evident that they are influenced by third parties, including the Zionist regime, which kills children," Kanaani added, referring to Israel.
"As we have already said, the resistance organizations in the region are responding to the war crimes and genocide committed by the Zionist regime and do not take orders from Iran, they decide on their own actions, based on their own principles," insisted the representative of Iranian diplomacy. .
Organizata e Rezistencës Islamike lëshoi një deklaratë duke thënë se nëse SHBA-ja vazhdon të mbështesë Izraelin, do të ketë një përshkallëzim. Të gjitha interesat e SHBA-së në rajon janë objektiva legjitime dhe ne nuk shqetësohemi për kërcënimet e SHBA për t'u përgjigjur, tortura është çmimi ynë.
Qeveria jordaneze e dënoi sulmin, duke theksuar se do të vazhdojë të merret me terrorizmin dhe kontrabandën e drogës dhe armëve përmes kufirit me Sirinë, si dhe këdo që përpiqet të sulmojë sigurinë.
Lufta në Gaza
Përpjekjet e administratës Biden se çfarë lloj hakmarrjeje të zgjedhë janë më të komplikuara, pasi një sulm i mundshëm nga forcat amerikane mund të përbëjë një pengesë shtesë për përpjekjet paralele për t'i dhënë fund luftimeve në Gaza.
William Burns, kreu i CIA-s, u takua në Paris të dielën me zyrtarë izraelitë, egjiptianë dhe të Katarit në një përpjekje për të ndërmjetësuar një marrëveshje sipas së cilës Izraeli do të ndalonte fushatën e tij ushtarake kundër Hamasit për rreth dy vjet dhe se do të liroheshin 100 pengjet e marra më 7 tetor.
Administrata Biden po përpiqet gjithashtu të negociojë një marrëveshje të veçantë për të shmangur më shumë konflikt midis Izraelit dhe Hezbollahut, një grup tjetër i mbështetur nga Irani me bazë në Liban.
Presioni republikan
Pavarësisht shqetësimeve për Gazën, republikanët të dielën fajësuan Biden për vdekjen e ushtarëve në Jordani, duke argumentuar se dështimi i tij për të ndërmarrë veprime më agresive gjatë tre muajve të fundit i kishte dhënë Iranit dhe aleatëve të tij besimin se ata po vepronin të pandëshkuar.
"E gjithë bota po shikon tani për shenja se presidenti më në fund është gati të përdorë fuqinë amerikane për të detyruar Iranin të ndryshojë sjelljen e tij," tha senatori Mitch McConnell, republikan i Kentakit.
Senatori Lindsey Graham , nga Karolina e Jugut, tha prerazi: “Godit Iranin tani. Goditi fort”.
Republikanët argumentuan se Biden inkurajoi agresionin e Iranit duke u përpjekur të qetësonte regjimin e Teheranit.
Ata përmendën përpjekjet e tij për të negociuar një marrëveshje të re me Iranin për të frenuar programin e tij të armëve bërthamore. Kjo është një marrëveshje që lejoi lirimin e pesë të burgosurve amerikanë në këmbim të ndihmës së Iranit për të fituar akses në 6 miliardë dollarë fonde të "ngrira" nga ish-presidenti Trump.
Paratë janë "ngrirë përsëri" disa ditë pas sulmit të 7 tetorit nga Hamasi, i cili mbështetet nga Irani.
"Ai i bëri ushtarët tanë një objektiv të lehtë dhe tani tre janë të vdekur dhe dhjetëra të plagosur", tha senatori Tom Cotton.
Sa i përket Trump, i cili tani është kandidati kryesor për nominimin republikan dhe ka të ngjarë të sfidojë Biden për presidencën, ai tha në mediat sociale të dielën se "ky sulm nuk do të kishte ndodhur kurrë nëse ai do të ishte president".
Parandalimi i një lufte më të gjerë
Amid growing pressure from the Republican camp, but also from some members of the Democratic Party, who are calling for harsh retaliation, as the electoral campaigns of candidates for the elections are in full swing, a sign of the next moves of the US administration may be communicated to Army Chief of Staff Charles Brown.
In an interview with ABC News that aired Sunday morning, he reiterated that part of the U.S. job is to "make sure the conflict in the Middle East doesn't expand."
"The goal is to deter them and we don't want to follow a path of greater escalation that leads to a much wider conflict in the region," he stressed. / Adapted "Pamphlet" from "NYT, Bloomberg, ABC and Reuters"
Lini një Përgjigje