United States officials confirmed Thursday that the Biden administration approved plans for several military strikes against Iran personnel and facilities inside Iraq and Syria, following a weekend attack in Jordan that resulted in the deaths of three American soldiers and injured 40.
Speaking to CBS News, U.S. officials said that weather would be a critical factor in the timing of the military strikes. The officials also noted that the Pentagon could carry out strikes under terrible weather conditions but prefers to have a better sight of selected targets to prevent hitting civilians.
"By leaking details and categories of targets, the White House and Pentagon are purposely seeking to mitigate Iranian and militia casualties in order to dampen conflict," said Michael Rubin, senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), where he specializes in Iran, Turkey, and the broader Middle East.
Speaking to the reporters at the Pentagon since hospitalization, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told reporters that the U.S. would not tolerate attacks on American troops.
"This is a dangerous moment in the Middle East," Austin told reporters. "We will continue to work to avoid a wider conflict in the region, but we will take all necessary actions to defend the U.S., our interests, and our people, and we will respond when we choose, where we choose, and how we choose," he added.
The Secretary of Defense also discussed Israel's ongoing war against the Iran-backed terrorist group Hamas in the Gaza Strip and the attacks in the Red Sea by the Iran’s proxy, the Houthi terrorists in Yemen, on U.S. naval and commercial vessels.
"The Biden administration is less obsessed with the murder of Americans and more that the conflict could escalate and spread,” Rubin said.
According to Rubin, officials inside the Biden administration contemplating military strikes, like National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, may "think that is sophisticated, but it is military virtue signaling and a green light to target Americans.
"Fear is a bad look for U.S. national security," Rubin told The Foreign Desk.
Since the Oct. 7 massacre by Hamas against Israel, Iran-backed terrorist groups in the Middle East in Iraq, Syria, Yemen, and Lebanon have increased attacks on American and Israeli forces, hoping to expand the conflict into a regional war. Despite targeted military strikes against the terrorist infrastructure in Iraq, Syria, and Yemen, the Houthis, and other Iranian-backed terrorist groups continue to receive military equipment from Tehran, which has vowed to retaliate against the U.S. should a strike occur.
Related Story: Iran Threatens to ‘Decisively Respond’ to Any U.S. Reaction to Deadly Attack on Troops in Jordan
