US' response to Jordan attack 'will not be escalatory'

WASHINGTON

The US' response to a recent drone attack that killed three American troops in Jordan "will not be escalatory," a State Department spokesman said Wednesday.

"Our actions to date to defend US troops have not been escalatory," Matthew Miller told reporters.

The US does not believe it is in the interest of any country in the region, including Iran, to see the conflict escalate, he added, referring to the Israeli war against the Gaza Strip.

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.

"At the same time, we will defend our personnel and we will defend our interests and we made that clear for a number of months and you've seen us respond, to take military action at times to respond to attacks on US troops and to respond to attacks on commercial shipping.

"And we will continue to hold accountable those who attack our forces. But we will do so in a way that is appropriate while at the same time making clear we do not want to see this conflict escalate in any way," said Miller.

National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby told reporters Wednesday that the US intelligence community has determined that the Islamic Resistance in Iraq helped to plan, resource and facilitate Sunday's attack.

While he stopped short of blaming any one militia, he said it "certainly has the earmarks of" the types of attacks conducted by Kataib Hezbollah.