US to strike Iranian targets in Syria and Iraq in retaliation attack

The US have approved plans to strike Iranian targets in Syria and Iraq as part of a retaliation campaign following the death of three troops in Jordan by a suspected Iran-backed attack.

In January, three US army troops were killed in their tent in Jordan, on the border with Syria, in what the US suspect was carried out by a "radical Iran-backed militant group". Dozens others were injured in the strike performed by an unmanned drone.

Iran have denied any involvement in the attacks.

At a news conference on Thursday, US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin said the US would "not tolerate attacks on American troops. We will take all necessary actions to defend the United States, our interests and our people," he said. "We will respond where we choose, when we choose and how we choose."

President Joe Biden has reiterated that he isn't looking for a wider war with Iran, or an escalation to tensions in the region. The approved plans will attack targets in Syria and Iraq, and none inside Iran.

President Biden has been under mounting pressure from Republican lawmakers, including some of Washington's most hawkish voices on Iran, to strike targets on Iranian soil.

Several Iran-backed groups have increased attacks on US and Israeli-linked entities since the beginning of the Israel-Hamas war on 7 October. The Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen, have attacked ships in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, prompting strikes from the US and its allies.

A US defence official told CBS that a drone was shot down overnight in the Gulf of Aden, while an unmanned sea drone was struck and destroyed in the Red Sea. Royal Navy ships have also shot down unmanned drones in recent weeks.