Joe Biden vows retaliation for deadly attack on US forces in Jordan

Joe Biden has promised retaliation for a drone attack on a US service base in Jordan that killed three soldiers and injured a further 34 service personnel. 

The US president blamed Iranian-backed militia mainly based in Iraq for Sunday's "despicable" attack on Tower 22, a US outpost in northeast Jordan. "Have no doubt, we will hold all those responsible to account at a time and in a manner of our choosing", Biden said.

The attack marks the first time that US troops have been killed by enemy fire in the Middle East since the start of the Gaza war, and "raises fears of a broader conflict directly involving Tehran", said France 24.

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The "possibility of a regional conflagration", said Al Jazeera, has been increasing amid Houthi attacks in the Red Sea and regular exchanges of fire between Israel and the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah.

Although a wider conflict "could serve Iran's purposes", said The New York Times, American officials have long thought Iran might be about to rein in its proxy forces, understanding that a direct war with the US "would be deeply damaging". But that theory may have been "dashed by Sunday's attack".