US says it will have 'multi-tiered response' to attacks in Jordan on American troops

WASHINGTON

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Thursday it will have a multi-tiered response to attacks against American troops in Jordan and can respond several times.

Austin told reporters he was involved in the planning of how to respond to the attacks and made recommendations to President Joe Biden on actions the US should carry out, adding that the president made a decision.

He noted that the deadly attack was carried out by an axis of resistance and that it is unclear how much Iran knew about the attack.

"But it really doesn't matter because Iran sponsors these groups, it funds these groups, and in some cases, it trains these groups on advanced conventional weapons," he said.

Austin underlined that recent attacks are not driving the US to consider withdrawing troops from Iraq and Syria.

Sunday's suicide drone attack killed three American troops and injured at least 34 others at Tower 22, a remote military installation in Jordan near the Syrian and Iraqi borders. An umbrella group of Iranian-backed militias calling itself the Islamic Resistance in Iraq claimed responsibility.