The Pentagon has approved a series of strikes against targets inside Iraq and Syria in response to the recent attack on a U.S. military base in northern Jordan that killed three U.S. soldiers and other attacks in the region. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said the U.S. is working to avoid a wider Middle East conflict and is not seeking war with Iran.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin: “Our teammates were killed by radical militias backed by Iran and operating inside Syria and Iraq. In the aftermath of the vile Hamas terrorist assault on Israel on October 7th, terrorist groups backed by Iran and funded by Iran have tried to create even more turmoil, including the Houthis attacking commercial shipping in the Red Sea. … How much Iran knew or didn’t know, we don’t know, but it really doesn’t matter, because Iran sponsors these groups. It funds these groups.”

Secretary Austin also apologized for the secrecy surrounding his recent hospitalization and cancer diagnosis.