ASPI senior analyst Dr Malcolm Davis believes the US is “very willing to escalate” after retaliating for the deaths of three US infantrymen in a drone strike as it “did not need to inflict heavy casualties “to the Iranian army.
The US has launched retaliatory airstrikes against Iran-backed targets in Iraq and Syria in response to the drone attack in Jordan, which killed three American soldiers.
U. S. President Joe Biden has warned in the past about a “gradual response” over time, so this airstrike is unlikely to be the last.
U. S. Central Command says the military hit more than 85 targets and more than 125 precision munitions.
“The Americans are very keen to avoid an escalation here, so what they didn’t need to do was inflict heavy casualties on Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps in particular, that would force Iran to retaliate,” Dr Davis told Sky News Australia.
“I still think that the Iranians, through their proxies, will retaliate at some point; in fact, this is not over, and Biden’s leadership is making it clear that this is the first in a series of attacks.
“We will remain focused on what happens in the coming hours, days and weeks ahead, but clearly, this is the response that everyone has been waiting for.”
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