Iran Responds to Biden: We Don't Want War, But We Are Not Afraid of It

(Patria) - Iran has threatened to "decisively respond" to any US attack on the country after US President Joe Biden linked Tehran to the killing of three American soldiers at a base in Jordan.

The US announced yesterday that the drone attack, in which American soldiers were killed, was carried out by the Islamic Resistance in Iraq group – which brings together militant organizations supported by Iran.

US National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said the US believes the group "planned, financed, and executed the attack," reports VOA.

The US has signaled that it is preparing for retaliatory strikes in the Middle East following the drone attack that also injured at least 40 soldiers at Tower 22, a secret base in northeastern Jordan, which was key to the US presence in neighboring Syria.

Any additional US strike could further ignite the region, which has already been shaken by Israel's war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

The war began with Hamas's attack on Israel on October 7, when militants killed 1,200 people and took about 250 hostages.

Since then, the Israeli army's offensive has killed more than 26,000 Palestinians, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health, controlled by Hamas. Nearly two million people have been displaced.

Violence has since escalated across the Middle East, with Iran targeting sites in Iraq, Pakistan, and Syria, and the US conducting airstrikes on Yemen's Houthi rebels who are targeting ships in the Red Sea.

Some observers fear that a new round of attacks on Iran could lead the region into a wider war.

Iran's warnings first came from Amir Saeid Iravani, ambassador to the United Nations in New York. He held a briefing with Iranian journalists, according to the state news agency IRNA.

"The Islamic Republic would decisively respond to any attack on this country, its interests, and citizens under any pretext," Iravani said, IRNA reports.

He described any possible Iranian retaliation as a "strong response," without further explanation. Iran's UN mission did not respond to requests for comment yesterday.

Iravani denied that Iran and the US had exchanged any messages in recent days, either through intermediaries or directly.

Al Jazeera television, funded by Qatar, reported that such communication had occurred. Qatar often acts as an intermediary between Washington and Tehran.

"No such messages have been exchanged," Iravani assures. However, the Iranian government has taken note of US threats of retaliation for the attack on the base in Jordan.

"Sometimes our enemies threaten us. Today, we hear some threats between the lines from American officials. We tell them – you have already seen what we can do, we know each other.

No threat will go unanswered. We do not want war, but we are not afraid of it," said the commander of the Revolutionary Guard, General Hossein Salami, IRNA reports.

The general in charge of Iran's air defense said earlier that it was on "maximum combat readiness." This also raises concerns for commercial aviation traveling over Iran.

After a US drone killed a high-ranking general in 2020, Iran's air defense mistakenly shot down a Ukrainian passenger plane, killing all 176 people on board.