Iran Threatens To ‘Decisively Respond’ To Any U.S. Strikes As Biden Weighs Response To Jordan Attack

JERUSALEM (AP) — Iran threatened Wednesday to “decisively respond” to any U.S. attack on the Islamic Republic following President Joe Biden’s connecting of Tehran to the killing of 3 U.S. soldiers at a military base in Jordan.

The U.S. hasactually signified it is preparing for vindictive strikes in the Mideast in the wake of the Sunday drone attack that likewise hurt at least 40 soldiers at Tower 22, a deceptive base in northeastern Jordan that’s been vital to the American existence in surrounding Syria.

However, issues stay that any extra American strikes might evenmore irritate a area currently roiled by Israel’s continuous war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip and the continuous attacks by Yemen’s Houthi rebels on shipping in the Red Sea.

A U.S. Navy destroyer in the waterway shot down an anti-ship cruise rocket introduced by the Houthis late Tuesday, the mostcurrent attack targeting American forces patrolling the secret maritime trade path, authorities stated.

The Iranian cautions veryfirst came from Amir Saeid Iravani, Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations in New York. He provided a rundown to Iranian reporters late Tuesday, according to the state-run IRNA news company.

“The Islamic Republic would decisively respond to any attack on the county, its interests and nationals under any pretexts,” IRNA estimated Iravani as stating. He explained any possible Iranian retaliation as a “strong reaction,” without elaborating.

The Iranian objective to the U.N. did not respond to demands for remark or elaboration Wednesday on Iravani’s remarks.

Iravani likewise rejected that Iran and the U.S. had exchanged any messages over the last coupleof days, either through intermediaries or straight. The pan-Arab satellite channel Al Jazeera, which is based in and moneyed by Qatar, reported earlier that such interaction hadactually taken location. Qatar frequently serves as an intermediary inbetween Washington and Tehran.

“Such messages have not been exchanged,” Iravani stated.

But Iran’s federalgovernment hasactually taken note of the U.S. risks of retaliation for the attack on the base in Jordan.

“Sometime, our opponents raise the hazard and nowadays we hear some dangers in inbetween words by American authorities,” Revolutionary Guard leader Gen. Hossein Salami, who responses just to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, stated at an occasion Wednesday. “We inform them that you have knowledgeable us and we understand each other. We do not leave any hazard without an response.”

“We are not after war, however we have no worry of war,” he included, according to IRNA.

On Saturday, a basic in charge of Iran’s air defenses explained them as being at their “highest defensive preparedness.” That raises worries for business airtravel takingatrip through and over Iran as well. After a U.S. drone strike eliminated a leading basic in 2020, Iranian air defenses wrongly shot down a Ukrainian guest aircraft, killing all 176 individuals on board.

Meanwhile, attacks by the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels continue in the Red Sea, most justrecently targeting a U.S. warship. The rocket released Tuesday night targeted the USS Gravely, an Arleigh Burke-class assisted rocket destroyer, the U.S. military’s Central Command stated in a declaration.

“There were no injuries or damage reported,” the declaration stated.

A Houthi armedforce spokesperson, Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree, declared the attack in a declaration Wednesday earlymorning, calling it “a triumph for the injustice of the Palestinian individuals and a action to the American-British hostility versus our nation.”

Saree declared the Houthis fired “several” rockets. something not acknowledged by the U.S. Navy. Houthi claims haveactually been overemphasized in the previous, and their rockets often crash on land and stopworking to reach their targets.

The Houthis declared without proof on Monday to haveactually targeted the USS Lewis B. Puller, a drifting landing base utilized by the Navy SEALs and others. The U.S. stated there hadactually been no attack.

Since November, the rebels have consistently targeted ships in the Red Sea over Israel’s offensive versus Hamas in Gaza. But they have regularly targeted vessels with rare or no clear links to Israel, imperiling shipping in a secret path for international trade inbetween Asia, the Mideast and Europe.

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Associated Press author Nasser Karimi in Tehran, Iran, contributed to this report.