Pentagon says it will hold Iran responsible for attacks on U.S. troops

“By advantage of the truth that they’re supported by Iran, we are going to in the end maintain Iran accountable,” Ryder stated.

Ryder’s feedback on Monday have been a departure from the Pentagon’s extra cautious rhetoric towards Tehran since Hamas militants’ shock assaults on Israel on Oct. 7 launched an escalating regional battle.

In a press briefing final Thursday after the destroyer USS Carney intercepted missiles and drones launched by Yemen’s Houthi rebels within the northern Purple Sea, Ryder declined to assign blame for the drone assaults on U.S. troops in Iraq and Syria. He additionally stated he wouldn’t draw a direct hyperlink between the Oct. 7 strikes and the latest assaults on U.S. troops.

On Monday, nonetheless, Ryder pointed to statements final week by Iranian proxy teams saying they’d scale up assaults on American forces if Israel launches a floor invasion of Gaza.

He declined to say which particular Iranian proxy teams have been chargeable for the assaults, whilst he confirmed one other had taken place in Syria. Within the newest incident, which occurred at 3 a.m. Japanese time on Monday, American troops on the al Tanf garrison in southern Syria shot down two drones focusing on their positions, Ryder stated. There have been no accidents.

“We’re involved about escalation,” Ryder stated. “We’re all watching elevated tensions within the area and once more we need to deter this from changing into a much bigger battle.”

After the assaults final week, Protection Secretary Lloyd Austin ordered further ships and air defenses to U.S. Central Command to higher shield American forces within the area. That included redirecting the plane service USS Dwight D. Eisenhower strike group from the japanese Mediterranean — the place it was set to hitch the USS Gerald R. Ford off the coast of Israel — to an space that features the Purple Sea, the Persian Gulf and different Center Japanese waters .

Austin additionally ordered the deployment of a Terminal Excessive Altitude Space Protection battery and Patriot missile protection system battalions to places all through the area, and positioned an extra variety of forces on “put together to deploy” orders.

“We’re going to proceed to do what we have to do to guard and safeguard our forces and take all crucial measures,” Ryder stated. Though “nobody needs to see a wider regional battle, however we won’t hesitate to guard our forces.”