US unlikely to strike Iran directly despite drone attack that killed 3 Americans

But expect Washington to intensify regional strikes to send a strong message to Teheran

- Bhagyashree Garekar

WASHINGTON - The United States is expected to intensify military strikes in the Middle East to signal that Iran and its proxies have crossed the line with a drone attack that killed three American soldiers.

But a direct hit on Iranian soil, which would send tensions soaring around the world, remains unlikely.

After the Jan 28 attack by Iran-backed militants on a US military base in north-eastern Jordan that also injured more than two dozen servicemen, the Biden administration is under pressure to send a sharp message to Iran.

Teheran has officially denied any connection to the attack, for which the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, a loose-knit network of pro-Iranian militias, has claimed responsibility.

"This is an incredibly volatile time in the Middle East," US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in Washington on Jan 29, after meeting visiting Nato chief Jens Stoltenberg.

"I would argue that we've not seen a situation as dangerous as the one we're facing now across the region since at least 1973, and arguably even before that," Mr Blinken said.

His reference was to the bloody Arab-Israeli Yom Kippur War, which drew the US and Soviet Union close to a confrontation.

While President Joe Biden held meetings with his top advisers and did not make any public comments, Mr Blinken said the US would respond decisively, without giving specifics.

"That response could be multi-levelled, come in stages and be sustained over time," he said.

As Republicans in Congress kept up calls for a stiff response, including direct strikes on Iran, defence analysts pointed out that the Biden White House had a track record of the "cautious use of force".