Merve Berker
29 January 2024•Update: 29 January 2024
ANKARA
Republican senators on Sunday criticized the Biden administration over the drone attacks carried out by an Iran-backed group against US forces stationed in northeastern Jordan, near the Syrian border.
“When the Biden Administration says ‘don’t’, the Iranians ‘do’. The Biden Administration’s rhetoric is falling on deaf ears in Iran,” Senator Lindsey Graham said on X.
Claiming that there have been “over 100 attacks” against US forces in the region, the senator said the Biden administration's "policy of deterrence against Iran has failed miserably.”
He conveyed condolences to the families of the “fallen heroes in Jordan” and wished a “full recovery" to those injured.
“Our forces in Jordan and Syria are there to protect the American homeland and to provide stability in a troubled region. Their service and sacrifice will always be appreciated. They are true heroes,” he said.
The senator further said: “The Biden Administration can take out all the Iranian proxies they like, but it will not deter Iranian aggression.”
“I am calling on the Biden Administration to strike targets of significance inside Iran, not only as reprisal for the killing of our forces, but as deterrence against future aggression,” he said.
Asserting that Tehran only learns its lesson through “force,” Graham said: “Until they pay a price with their infrastructure and their personnel, the attacks on U.S. troops will continue.”
“I’ve long since lost confidence in the Biden national security team to deter Iran,” he said.
“If they do not change their policies now, more American service members in the region will pay the price,” he said. “Hit Iran now. Hit them hard.”
Senator John Cornyn said on X: “Target Tehran.”
He reposted a tweet by Chad Pergram, a senior Congressional Correspondent for Fox News, saying: “Joe Biden emboldened Iran for years by tolerating attacks on our troops, bribing the ayatollahs with billions of dollars, and appeasing them to no end.”
“He left our troops as sitting ducks and now three are dead and dozens wounded,” he retweeted.
“The only answer to these attacks must be devastating military retaliation against Iran’s terrorist forces, both in Iran and across the Middle East.
“Anything less will confirm Joe Biden as a coward unworthy of being commander-in-chief,” it added.
Drone attack
The White House said in a written statement on Sunday that three of its service members were killed and many wounded in a drone attack on US forces stationed in northeast Jordan near the Syrian border.
“While we are still gathering the facts of this attack, we know it was carried out by radical Iran-backed militant groups operating in Syria and Iraq,” the statement read.
The attack is considered one of the deadliest recent attacks on American troops in the Middle East.
Later on Sunday, a group calling itself the Islamic Resistance in Iraq said that it was responsible for the attack.
Al-Tanf, a base located within Syrian territory outside of regime control where the Syrian, Iraqi, and Jordanian borders meet, houses a number of American troops.
The base had previously come under attack on Jan. 4, with unidentified drones intercepted by US forces before reaching the base.
