--- title: Biden Walks Tightrope on Iran After Drone Strike description: Republicans in Congress have long criticized the Biden Administration for being too soft on Iran. canonical: https://time.com/6589620/biden-tower-22-islamic-resistance-response/ author: Anna Gordon article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2024-01-29T15:20:09.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:50:35.441Z article:section: Politics og:title: Biden Walks Tightrope on Iran After Drone Strike og:description: Republicans in Congress have long criticized the Biden Administration for being too soft on Iran. og:url: https://time.com/6589620/biden-tower-22-islamic-resistance-response/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb9b8cababafa3366/698a443e86f68e44db6f32c3/biden-iran-drone-strike.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1024 og:image:height: 576 og:image:alt: Joe Biden Delivers Remarks at Church og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Biden Walks Tightrope on Iran After Drone Strike twitter:description: Republicans in Congress have long criticized the Biden Administration for being too soft on Iran. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb9b8cababafa3366/698a443e86f68e44db6f32c3/biden-iran-drone-strike.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # How Biden May Respond to the Drone Attack That Killed 3 U.S. Servicemen > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=8df1207b-105d-47ef-8590-d61c2347024f&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: National Security Council Spokesman John Kirby Says "ISIS-K Does Remain Viable Terrorist Threat" [Watch (HLS stream): National Security Council Spokesman John Kirby Says "ISIS-K Does Remain Viable Terrorist Threat"](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/eKAiZmRs.m3u8) (1:49)  _Published 2024-01-04. National Security Council spokesman says "ISIS-K does remain viable terrorist threat and obviously the region." This comes after the Islamic State group claimed responsibility for two suicide bombings targeting a commemoration for an Iranian general slain in a 2020 U.S. drone strike._ by [Anna Gordon](https://time.com/author/anna-gordon/) ## Anna Gordon Gordon was a reporter for TIME, based in the London bureau. Jan 29, 2024 3:20 PM UTC  US President Joe Biden delivers remarks at the St. John Baptist Church in Columbia, South Carolina, on January 28, 2024\. US President Joe Biden vowed on Sunday to strike back after a drone attack he blamed on Iran-backed militant groups killed three US troops in Jordan. US President Joe Biden delivers remarks at the St. John Baptist Church in Columbia, South Carolina, on January 28, 2024\. US President Joe Biden vowed on Sunday to strike back after a drone attack he blamed on Iran-backed militant groups killed three US troops in Jordan. Kent Nishimura–AFP/Getty Images by [Anna Gordon](https://time.com/author/anna-gordon/) ## Anna Gordon Gordon was a reporter for TIME, based in the London bureau. Jan 29, 2024 3:20 PM UTC On Sunday, President Joe Biden announced that three American troops were killed and 34 others injured after a drone strike hit a U.S. military service base in northeast Jordan near the Syrian border. The Islamic Resistance in Iraq claimed responsibility for the attack. The group emerged [in October 2023 on Telegram](https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/menasource/islamic-resistance-in-iraq-israel-hamas/), and is made up of a loose collection of Iranian-allied militia groups who oppose U.S. support for Israel’s war on Gaza. Since the Israel-Hamas war began on Oct. 7, there have been over 150 attacks on U.S. troops in Iraq and Syria by Iranian aligned militia groups, [according to Reuters](https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/iran-backed-attacks-us-troops-middle-east-since-oct-7-2024-01-28/). This is in addition to over [30 attacks on civilian cargo ships](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/1/22/us-denies-yemens-houthis-claim-of-attack-on-us-military-cargo-ship#:~:text=The%20UK's%20Ministry%20of%20Defence,international%20shipping%20since%20mid%2DNovember.) conducted by [Iran-allied Houthi rebels](https://time.com/6554861/yemen-houthi-rebels-history-cause-israel-hamas-war/) in Yemen. Biden [promised](https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2024/01/28/statement-from-president-joe-biden-on-attack-on-u-s-service-members-in-northeastern-jordan-near-the-syria-border/) in a statement that “we will hold all those responsible to account at a time and in a manner our choosing.” Julie Norman, a professor of politics and international relations at University College London, says that Sunday’s attack is especially significant to the Biden Administration because U.S. troops were killed, and that this may put more pressure on the President to act with force. “Most of the drones are intercepted before they hit anything, and when they have hit, there have been some injuries but never this kind of casualty level,” Norman says. “That is a red line and I think the Biden Administration is holding their breath and saying we have to confront this.” ### More From TIME ## **Republican pressure on Biden** Republicans in Congress have long criticized the Biden Administration for being too soft on Iran, which denies any involvement in Sunday’s attack. Biden initially entered office with the goal of reviving the Iranian nuclear deal agreed to under the Obama Administration and easing Washington-Tehran tensions. The Trump Administration [withdrew from the deal in 2018](https://time.com/6149306/biden-iran-nuclear-deal/). Negotiations have languished under Biden and many Republicans have called on the President to be more aggressive in his foreign policy in the wake of Oct. 7\. “He left our troops as sitting ducks,” Republican U.S. Senator Tom Cotton told Reuters after the attack. “The only answer to these attacks must be devastating military retaliation against Iran's terrorist forces, both in Iran and across the Middle East.” But according to Norman, despite the pressure from Republicans, the President is unlikely to risk anything that could provoke a regional war with Tehran. “It’s important to note this attack happened while there are other negotiations going on for hostage releases in Israel-Gaza and negotiations going on between Israel and Hezbollah on the northern border of Israel,” Norman says. “To launch an attack on Iran right now, in any kind of devastating way, is not what they would want because they have real interest in seeing these other deals come to fruition.” During a campaign event in West Columbia, South Carolina on Sunday, Biden said the U.S. "lost three brave souls in an attack on one of our bases." After a moment of silence for the fallen soldiers, Biden said, "And we shall respond." ## **Small, targeted retaliatory strikes in Syria likely** What is more likely, experts say, is that the Biden Administration retaliates with smaller strikes aimed at the militant groups responsible for Sunday’s attack. “In the past when there have been these attacks on U.S. troops by Iranian backed militias, there have been retaliatory, very carefully calibrated strikes on those militia groups on their weapons depots,” Norman says. Sanam Vakil, the director of the Middle East and North Africa program at Chatham House, agrees with that conclusion. “There's certainly an intention to respond. The President has been very explicit,” Vakil says. “But there's also a degree of pressure coming from both sides of the aisle because of the election year that we're facing. So I would imagine that the President is going to produce a sort of mixed response—one that aims at setting back these groups and their presence in Syria and Iraq, but at the same time, also finding a way to directly kick back against Iran without attacking Iran directly.” ## **Iran’s long-term goals** In the long run, experts say that Tehran’s position remains focused on decreasing U.S. influence in the region, weakening Israel, and showing that its allied militias like Hezbollah and the Houthis are operational and effective when it comes to combating American interests. The Israel-Hamas war has been an opportunity to further these goals. Nevertheless, Vakil says that Iran is very keen to publicly distance itself from these attacks. “Iran very clearly and repeatedly, and interestingly, keeps messaging that it's not directing the command and control centers of these groups,” Vakil adds. In a statement to the [Islamic Republic News Agency](https://en.irna.ir/news/85368668/Tehran-has-nothing-to-do-with-US-base-attack-Iran-s-UN-mission) on Monday, Nasser Kanaani, Iran's foreign ministry spokesman, said that Iran was “not involved in the decision making of resistance groups,” and was not involved in the attack on the U.S. troops in any way. ## Transcript I would say we have seen a Public Credit Now that Isis K has taken for the attack yet and around were certainly in no position to to doubt that that that coin by by ISIS K. And I'm sorry your second question was Is Islamic State strength given the fact that they were able to carry out that is that difficult to make a quantitative or qualitative assessment of their strength based on this event. This one event. I would just say what we said before which is Isis K does remain a viable terrorist threat and certainly they are largely based out of Afghanistan. That's where they that's where they headquarter themselves and they continue to pose a viable terrorist threat to the people of Afghanistan and obviously to the region this particular strike. I would just tell you that first of all word grateful for the continued support that we get from the government of rock. We aren't advise and assist capacity only to help the Rockies Security Forces continue to go after still viable Isis threat in Iraq and and that partnership continues and I unlike unlike a Ron and the irgc we actually respect Iraqi sovereignty and we take that seriously, you know, what else we take seriously defending the lives of our men and women in uniform who are in a rock at a rocks invitation to help them get better against this terrorist threat we take that seriously too. We have a right and responsibility to make sure that they are well defended as a president is set will continue to do what we have to do to protect our people. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/6589620/biden-tower-22-islamic-resistance-response/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/6589620/biden-tower-22-islamic-resistance-response/"},"headline":"How Biden May Respond to the Drone Attack That Killed 3 U.S. Servicemen","datePublished":"2024-01-29T15:20:09.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:50:35.441Z","description":"Biden promised in a statement that “we will hold all those responsible to account at a time and in a manner our choosing.”","url":"https://time.com/6589620/biden-tower-22-islamic-resistance-response/","keywords":["Biden Administration","News Desk","Second click","uspoliticspolicy","Israel-Hamas War"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb9b8cababafa3366/698a443e86f68e44db6f32c3/biden-iran-drone-strike.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Anna Gordon","jobTitle":"Gordon was a reporter for TIME, based in the London bureau.","url":"https://time.com/author/anna-gordon/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb9b8cababafa3366/698a443e86f68e44db6f32c3/biden-iran-drone-strike.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Joe Biden Delivers Remarks at Church","caption":"Biden Iran Drone Strike","creditText":"Kent Nishimura–AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/biden-administration/","name":"Biden Administration"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/6589620/biden-tower-22-islamic-resistance-response/","name":"How Biden May Respond to the Drone Attack That Killed 3 U.S. Servicemen"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"National Security Council Spokesman John Kirby Says \"ISIS-K Does Remain Viable Terrorist Threat\"","description":"National Security Council spokesman says \"ISIS-K does remain viable terrorist threat and obviously the region.\" This comes after the Islamic State group claimed responsibility for two suicide bombings targeting a commemoration for an Iranian general slain in a 2020 U.S. drone strike.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/eKAiZmRs/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2024-01-04T21:03:11.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/eKAiZmRs.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/6589620/biden-tower-22-islamic-resistance-response/","duration":"PT1M49S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/6589620/biden-tower-22-islamic-resistance-response/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```