Kremlin Calls For All Parties In The Middle East To Refrain After Three US Soldiers Died As A Result Of Drone Attacks
The Kremlin called on all parties to exercise restraint as tensions in the Middle East heat up, after a drone strike that killed US troops in Jordan, said steps were needed to ease tensions.
"We do not welcome any action that leads to destabilization in the region and increasing tensions, especially against the background of the potential for excessive conflict," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
"We will not welcome the continuation of such actions, regardless of who the perpetrators are. The level of tension is currently high and we need to take steps to defuse tensions. This is what will prevent widespread conflict," explained Peskov.
As previously reported, American Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Monday vowed that America would take "all necessary measures" to defend its forces, following a deadly drone strike in Jordan that was said to have been carried out by Iran-backed militants.
In addition to killing three soldiers, the first deadly attack on US troops since the Hamas-Israeli conflict broke out on Sunday, injuring more than 40 other soldiers, raising tensions in the Middle East.
"Let me start with my anger and sadness (over) the deaths of three brave American soldiers in Jordan and other wounded soldiers," US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told the Pentagon.
"The president and I will not tolerate attacks on US troops and we will take all necessary measures to defend the US and our troops," he added, at the start of a meeting with NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg at the Pentagon.
On the other hand, officials in President Joe Biden's Administration said they did not want this situation to escalate, with the Pentagon declaring Iran also not wanting war.
"We clearly don't want war and frankly we don't see Iran going to war with the United States," Pentagon spokesman Sabrina Singh told reporters, adding the Pentagon believed Iran also didn't want war.
"We are not seeking conflict with the regime in a military way," said White House national security spokesman John Kirby, adding President Biden was trying to find a response option.
The United States itself is trying to find out exactly why nearly 350 soldiers at a base in Jordan, known as Tower 22, were unable to stop the drone.
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Separately, Iranian authorities said the Middle East region did not need a new war, after three US troops were killed by a drone strike in Jordan, saying Tehran was not linked to this.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Miki said in a statement on Monday that "regional resistance groups" did not receive orders from Iran.
"We believe this area does not require more tensions or new wars," he said.
Russia is enjoying a closer relationship with Iran, at a time when their relations with the United States have been at its lowest since the 1962 Cuban missile crisis, related to what Moscow calls a special military operation' in Ukraine.