U.S. Senators have called for direct military action against Iran after at least three U.S. soldiers were killed in a terrorist attack carried out by an Iranian-backed terrorist group.
Both Republicans and Democrats have urged the Biden administration to hold Iran directly responsible.
U.S. Central Command said in a statement that “three U.S. service members were killed and 25 injured from a one-way attack [Unmanned Aircraft System] that impacted at a base in northeast Jordan, near the Syria border.”
“I am calling on the Biden Administration to strike targets of significance inside Iran, not only as reprisal for the killing of our forces, but as deterrence against future aggression,” Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) said, later adding: “Hit Iran now. Hit them hard.”
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) said that Biden’s weakness was “again measured in American lives.”
“We cannot afford to keep responding to this violent aggression with hesitation and half-measures,” McConnell said. “The entire world now watches for signs that the President is finally prepared to exercise American strength to compel Iran to change its behavior. Our enemies are emboldened. And they will remain so until the United States imposes serious, crippling costs – not only on front-line terrorist proxies, but on their Iranian sponsors who wear American blood as a badge of honor.”
“Joe Biden emboldened Iran for years by tolerating attacks on our troops, bribing the ayatollahs with billions of dollars, and appeasing them to no end,” Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) noted.
“He left our troops as sitting ducks and now three are dead and dozens wounded, sadly as I’ve predicted would happen for months. The only answer to these attacks must be devastating military retaliation against Iran’s terrorist forces, both in Iran and across the Middle East.”
Michael Bennet (D-CO) said that the U.S. must “work with our allies and partners to counter Iran’s malign influence.”
“This is a troubling pattern of Iran-backed groups feeling emboldened and we must hold all of those responsible accountable for attacks on the U.S. and our allies,” Democrat Senator Bob Casey added.
