U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin speaks with Department of Defense personnel during a visit by U.S. President Joe Biden to the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, Feb. 10, 2021.
Carlos Barria | Reuters
WASHINGTON – Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin warned those responsible for carrying out last week’s missile attack on an Iraqi base housing US troops will be held to account.
“The message to those who would commit such an attack is that we expect to do whatever it takes to defend ourselves,” Austin said in an interview with ABC that aired Sunday.
“We will strike if we think we should do so at a time and place of our choosing. We demand the right to protect our troops,” he said, adding that the US is still assessing intelligence. with its Iraqi partners.
Defense officials have previously said the attack was typical of an attack by Iran-backed groups. Iran has denied involvement.
When asked if Iran would see a possible US response as an escalation of tensions, the new Pentagon chief and retired four-star military reiterated that Washington would do whatever it takes to protect Americans and US interests in the region. .
“What she [Iranians] From this should draw again that we are going to defend our troops and that our response will be considerate. It will be appropriate, “Austin said.” We hope they choose to do the right things, ‘he added.
On Sunday, the US Army’s Central Command, which oversees the wars in the Middle East, flew bombers to the region for the fourth time.
The show of force mission included two B-52H Stratofortress bombers alongside planes from Israel, Saudi Arabia and Qatar at various points to “deter aggression and reassure partners and allies of the US military’s commitment to security in the region. to set “.
Last month, Iran rejected an invitation from world powers that signed the 2015 nuclear deal to discuss the regime’s possible return to the negotiating table, a significant setback in the Biden government’s efforts to implement the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA, to breathe new life into it.
The White House said the Biden administration was disappointed with Iran’s decision to skip the informal meeting, but “would revisit meaningful diplomacy to bring about a mutual return to compliance with JCPOA commitments.”
Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani speaks at the National Combat Board Meeting with Coronavirus (Covid-19) in Tehran, Iran on November 21, 2020.
Handout of the Iranian Presidency | Anadolu Agency | Getty images
The Biden administration has previously said it wants to revive the nuclear deal, but will not suspend sanctions until Tehran is back in compliance. Tehran has refused to negotiate as long as US sanctions remain in place.
The 2015 JCPOA, brokered by the Obama administration, lifted sanctions against Iran that had paralyzed its economy and cut oil exports about in half. In exchange for billions of dollars in sanctions, Iran agreed to dismantle part of its nuclear program and open its facilities to more extensive international inspections.
The US and its European allies believe Iran has ambitions to develop an atomic bomb. Tehran has denied that allegation.
In 2018, then-President Donald Trump made a campaign promise, pulling the United States out of the JCPOA, calling it the “ worst deal ever. ” After Washington abandoned the groundbreaking nuclear deal, other signatories to the pact have sought to keep the deal alive.
Washington’s tense relationship with Tehran got worse several times under the Trump administration.
President Donald Trump speaks at a briefing on Hurricane Michael at the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, Oct.10, 2018.
Saul Loeb | AFP | Getty images
People are gathering to protest the US airstrike in Iraq that killed Iranian commander Qasem Soleimani, who headed the Revolutionary Guard’s elite Quds force on January 6, 2020, in Sanaa, Yemen.
Mohammed Hamoud | Andalou Agency | Getty images
Soleimani’s death prompted the regime to further reduce compliance with the international nuclear pact. In January 2020, Iran said it would no longer limit its uranium enrichment capacity or nuclear research.
In October, the United States unilaterally imposed UN sanctions on Tehran through a snapback process, which other members of the UN Security Council previously said Washington does not have the authority to implement because it pulled out of the nuclear deal in 2018.
A month later, a top Iranian scientist was murdered near Tehran, prompting the Iranian government to claim that Israel, with US support, was behind the attack.
A rendering shows the site of the attack that killed prominent Iranian scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, outside Tehran, Iran, on Nov. 27, 2020.
WANA via Reuters
During the summer of 2019, a series of attacks in the Persian Gulf set the US and Iran on the path to greater confrontation.
In June 2019, US officials said an Iranian surface-to-air missile shot down a US military surveillance drone over the Strait of Hormuz. Iran said the plane was over its territory. That strike came a week after the US blamed Iran for attacks on two oil tankers in the Persian Gulf region and after four tankers were attacked in May.
The US imposed new sanctions in June on Iranian military leaders blamed for shooting down the drone. The measures also aimed to block funding for Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei.
Tensions rose again in September 2019 when the US blamed Iran for strikes in Saudi Arabia at the world’s largest processing plant and oil field. The strikes forced the kingdom to shut down half of its manufacturing operations.
The event triggered the largest spike in crude oil prices in decades and renewed concerns about a burgeoning Middle East conflict.
The Pentagon described the attacks on Saudi Arabian oil facilities as “sophisticated” and represented a “dramatic escalation” of tensions in the region.
All the while Iran has been claiming that it was not behind the attacks.