Three US Troops Killed in Drone Strike Linked to Iran 

Satellite view of the US military outpost known as Tower 22, in Rukban, Rwaished District, Jordan October 12, 2023 in this handout image. (Planet Labs PBC/Handout via Reuters)
Satellite view of the US military outpost known as Tower 22, in Rukban, Rwaished District, Jordan October 12, 2023 in this handout image. (Planet Labs PBC/Handout via Reuters)
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Three US Troops Killed in Drone Strike Linked to Iran 

Satellite view of the US military outpost known as Tower 22, in Rukban, Rwaished District, Jordan October 12, 2023 in this handout image. (Planet Labs PBC/Handout via Reuters)
Satellite view of the US military outpost known as Tower 22, in Rukban, Rwaished District, Jordan October 12, 2023 in this handout image. (Planet Labs PBC/Handout via Reuters)

Three US service members were killed and at least 34 wounded in a drone attack by Iran-backed militants on US troops on the Syrian-Jordanian border, President Joe Biden and US officials said on Sunday.   

It is the first deadly strike against US forces since the Israel-Hamas war erupted in October, and marks a major escalation in tensions that have engulfed the Middle East.   

"While we are still gathering the facts of this attack, we know it was carried out by radical Iran-backed militant groups operating in Syria and Iraq," Biden said in a statement.   

"Have no doubt - we will hold all those responsible to account at a time and in a manner of our choosing," he said.   

Iran's mission to the United Nations said in a statement on Monday that Tehran was not involved in the attack.   

"Iran had no connection and had nothing to do with the attack on the US base," the mission said in a statement published by the state news agency IRNA.   

It added: "There is a conflict between US forces and resistance groups in the region, which reciprocate retaliatory attacks."   

Biden asked for a moment of silence for the three killed service members during a campaign event in South Carolina, adding: "We shall respond."   

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin echoed that threat. He and other senior officials briefed Biden earlier in the day on the attack.   

At least 34 personnel were injured in the attack, but that number is expected to change as more people seek care, according to a statement from US Central Command. Eight personnel were evacuated from Jordan for higher level care, but are in stable condition.   

Two US officials said the drone struck near the barracks early in the morning, which could explain the high number of casualties.   

The “Islamic Resistance in Iraq”, an umbrella organization of hardline Iran-backed militant groups, claimed attacks on three bases, including one on the Syria-Jordan border.   

The attack is likely to fan fears of wider conflict in the Middle East, where war broke out in Gaza after Palestinian group Hamas' attack on Israel on Oct. 7 which killed 1,200. Israel's subsequent assault on Gaza has killed over 26,000 Palestinians, according to the local health ministry.   

Since then, US forces have come under attack more than 150 times by Iran-backed groups in Iraq and Syria, causing at least 70 casualties prior to Sunday's attack, most of them traumatic brain injuries.   

US warships have also been fired at by Iran-backed Houthi militias in Yemen, who are regularly attacking commercial ships passing through Red Sea waters off Yemen's coast.   

While the United States has thus far maintained an official line that Washington is not at war in the region, it has been retaliating against the Iran-backed groups in Iraq and Syria and carrying out strikes against Yemen's Houthi military capabilities.   

Biden pressured on Iran   

Republican opponents of Biden seized on the attack as evidence of the Democratic president's failure to confront Iran as its proxies strike against US forces across the region.   

"The only answer to these attacks must be devastating military retaliation against Iran’s terrorist forces ... Anything less will confirm Joe Biden as a coward," said Republican Senator Tom Cotton in a statement.   

US Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell said Biden's inaction was emboldening enemies of the United States in the Middle East.   

"The time to start taking this aggression seriously was long before more brave Americans lost their lives," McConnell said.   

A senior official with the Iran-backed Hamas, Sami Abu Zuhri, directly tied the attack to Israel's campaign in Gaza.   

"The killing of three American soldiers is a message to the US administration that unless the killing of innocents in Gaza stops, it must confront the entire nation," he told Reuters.   

"The continued American-Zionist aggression on Gaza is capable of exploding the situation in the region."  

The US military said the attack occurred near the Syrian border.  

The Jordanian government said the attack occurred at an "advanced post" along its border with Syria.   



Netanyahu Asks US to Broker Israel-Syria Negotiations

US envoy Tom Barrack meets Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa in Türkiye on May 24, 2025 (EPA)
US envoy Tom Barrack meets Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa in Türkiye on May 24, 2025 (EPA)
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Netanyahu Asks US to Broker Israel-Syria Negotiations

US envoy Tom Barrack meets Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa in Türkiye on May 24, 2025 (EPA)
US envoy Tom Barrack meets Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa in Türkiye on May 24, 2025 (EPA)

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told US envoy Tom Barrack he is interested in negotiating with the new Syrian government, with the US serving as mediator, two Israeli officials told Axios on Wednesday.

“Netanyahu is interested in negotiating an updated security deal and working up towards a full peace agreement,” according to a senior Israeli official.

“When Barrack met Netanyahu last week, the Israeli prime minister told him he wants to use the momentum from the Trump-al-Sharaa meeting to start US-mediated negotiations with Syria,” an Israeli official said.

A senior Israel official also told Axios that Netanyahu's goal is to try and reach a set of agreements, starting with an updated security deal based on the 1974 disengagement of forces agreement, with modifications, and ending with a peace deal between the countries.

The prime minister believes Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa's aspiration to build close ties with the Trump administration create a diplomatic opportunity. “We want to try and move towards normalization with Syria as soon as possible,” the official said.

According to the official, Barrack told the Israelis that al-Sharaa is open to discussing new agreements with Israel.

After his visit to Israel, Barrack traveled to Washington and briefed Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

A US official said the Israelis presented to Barrack their “red lines” on Syria: No Turkish military bases in the country, no renewed Iranian and Hezbollah presence and the demilitarization of southern Syria.

The Israelis told Barrack they will keep their forces in Syria until a new agreement is signed that includes the demilitarization of southern Syria, an Israeli official said.

The official added that in a new future border deal with Syria, Israel wants to add US forces to the UN force that was previously stationed on the border.

In a related development, the Israeli forces on Wednesday seized one vehicle and arrested three workers employed by Al-Quneitra city council. The forces had advanced into Al-Qahtaniyah village in Syria’s southern countryside of the governorate, deploying within residential neighborhoods and firing guns into the air.

The Syrian TV reported that the deployment coincided with loudspeaker announcements calling on residents to stay in their homes.

Last Sunday, the Israeli forces destroyed an agricultural land near the border in the southern countryside of Quneitra and confiscated a flock of sheep.

Earlier, the Israeli forces had carried out airstrikes in southern Syria, saying it hit weapons belonging to the government in retaliation for the firing of two projectiles towards Israel.

Israeli shelling also targeted agricultural areas in the Wadi Yarmouk region.

Residents described increased tensions in recent weeks, including reported Israeli incursions into villages, where they have reportedly been barred from sowing their crops.