Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, January 29 (Reporter Shao Jie) The United States ** Biden issued a statement on the 28th, saying that the US military stationed in northeastern Jordan near the Syrian border was attacked by a drone on the evening of the 27th Eastern time, killing three US soldiers and injuring many others. This is the worst attack on US troops stationed in the Middle East since the outbreak of a new round of Palestinian-Israeli conflict on 7 October last year, and it is also a dangerous signal that the Palestinian-Israeli conflict continues to spill over, which may have a major impact on the regional situation.
Biden is eager to blame Iran.
As for the perpetrators or participants in the attack, the US side immediately stated that they were related to Iran. In his statement, Biden said the United States was still gathering information about the attack, but believed it was an attack by Iranian-backed militant groups in Syria and Iraq. The US side will hold the perpetrators of the attack accountable "in its own way".
The U.S. side is still investigating the attack, and is eagerly "conclusive" to accuse Iran before the investigation is completed. Analysts note that judging by the timing and place of the attack, the possibility of an attack by other armed groups that have nothing to do with Iran cannot be completely ruled out.
Britain also blamed Iran for the attack. According to the 29th IANA, Iranian spokesman Nasser Kanaani said that the British accusation was "groundless" and stressed that Iran does not have any ** organization on the ground.
On November 4, 2023, a large number of Iranians held rallies in Tehran and other cities. The rally expressed support for the Palestinian people and harshly condemned the Israeli attack on the Gaza Strip. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Sha Dati.
Previously, the United States had blamed almost all attacks on Iranian-linked armed groups that had taken place outside the scope of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict against the United States and other Western countries, as well as on Israeli-related targets. This seems to have become the norm in the United States.
For a long time, the United States has regarded Iran as one of its most troublesome in the Middle East, and the increased sanctions against Iran, the assassination of Iranian military personnel and other personnel, and various accusations against Iran have become commonplace.
In addition, the United States also hopes to reassure regional allies through actions such as vowing retaliation to alleviate their fears that the United States may not be able to control the situation in the region.
Why the attack involved Jordan.
In the aftermath of the attack, the Jordanian response was relatively low-key. Jordan's ** Minister of Communications and spokesman Mohannad Mubaidin first said on the 28th that the attack did not take place in Jordan, and later said that the attack took place in the "forward zone" on the border between Jordan and Syria.
U.S. military bases and garrisons in the Middle East are located in many countries. As the Israeli-Palestinian conflict spills over, these bases and garrisons are likely to be targeted. The heaviest attack on the US military since the outbreak of the new round of Palestinian-Israeli conflict involves Jordan, and this may be related to Jordan's peculiarities.
First, Jordan is bordered by Israel and Israeli-occupied West Bank Palestine to the west, Syria to the north, and Iraq and Saudi Arabia to the east. It can be said that if the spillover of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict requires a geographical path, Jordan may be the best choice.
Secondly, more than half of Jordan's population is Palestinian. The number of Palestinians living in Jordan exceeds even the number of Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza.
People take part in a demonstration in solidarity with Palestine in Amman, Jordan, October 27, 2023. Xinhua News Agency (Photo by Muhammad Abu Ghosh).
Thirdly, Jordan has always maintained a delicate balance between the parties, establishing diplomatic relations with Israel and close relations with the United States, and has therefore been strongly criticized by radical forces at home and abroad. Extremist forces have been operating in Jordan in the shadows, and al-Zarqawi, the leader of al-Qaida's Iraqi branch, is a Jordanian.
For the above-mentioned reasons, the purpose of the militants' attack on the US military stationed in Jordan is to provoke anti-US and anti-Israeli sentiments in Jordan, intensify contradictions, and further aggravate regional tensions.
It can be seen that if the parties concerned do not make efforts to calm the Palestinian-Israeli conflict as soon as possible, but allow the conflict to spill over, the regional situation and the interests of even more countries may be more seriously affected. (Participating reporter: He Yiping).