US ‘very keen to avoid escalation’ with Iran after retaliatory strikes

ASPI Senior Analyst Dr Malcolm Davis believes the United States is “very keen to avoid escalation” after they retaliated to three American soldiers being killed in a drone attack as they “didn’t want to inflict heavy casualties” on Iran’s military. The US has launched retaliatory airstrikes against Iran-backed targets in Iraq and Syria in response to the drone attack in Jordan, which killed three American soldiers. US President Joe Biden had previously warned of a ‘tiered response’ over time, so this airstrike is unlikely to be the last. The US Central Command says the military struck more than 85 targets, using more than 125 precision munitions. “The Americans are very keen to avoid escalation here, so what they didn’t want to do was inflict heavy casualties on the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corp in particular – that would then force Iran to retaliate,” Dr Davis told Sky News Australia. “I still think the Iranians, through their proxies, will retaliate at some point – this is certainly not over, and the Biden administration is making clear that this is the first in a series of strikes. “We will remain focused on what happens in the coming hours, days and weeks ahead, but clearly, this is the response that everyone has been waiting for.”