US set to strike Iran’s proxies

Plans have been approved for the US military to launch a series of strikes targeting Iranian “personnel and facilities” in Iraq and Syria in retaliation for the death of three American troops.

US officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the weather would determine when the strikes would begin, adding the attacks “won’t be a one-off”.

It comes after the White House said the drone attack on a US base in Jordan was launched by the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, an umbrella of Iran-backed militias such as Kataib Hezbollah.

US officials said the military was waiting for improved weather before launching the strikes in an effort to minimise civilian casualties.

Iran threatened to “decisively respond” if the US attacked the Islamic Republic to retaliate for Sunday’s attack on Tower 22, which killed three and injured more than 40.

“(US President Joe Biden) believes that it is important to respond in an appropriate way,” said National Security Council spokesman John Kirby. “The first thing you see won’t be the last thing … it won’t be a one-off.”

Meanwhile a new explosion was reported off Yemen after US strikes targeted 10 attack drones and a ground control station belonging to the Iranbacked Houthi rebels.

The explosion, reported by the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations agency, happened near a vessel west of the port city of Hodeida.

No damage to the ship or injuries to the crew was reported.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the blast, which followed a flurry of missile strikes by the Houthis who have harassed Red Sea shipping for months, triggering reprisals by the US and UK.

Earlier, US forces targeted a “Houthi UAV ground control station and 10 Houthi one-way UAVS” that “presented an imminent threat to merchant vessels and the US Navy ships in the region”, a CENTCOM statement said, using an abbreviation for unmanned aerial vehicles or drones.