A US contractor suffered a fatal cardiac episode while protecting himself during the attack, which was the latest in a series of tit-for-tat rocket launches that raised concerns about rising tensions in the region. No member of the American service was informed of the wounded.
Later on Thursday, Senator Bob Menendez (DN.J.) said on CNN that, as far as he knows, the attack was carried out by “Iranian representatives in the region”.
“They gave them the green light to carry out this type of attack. There must be consequences for that,” said Menendez, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, urging the president to “come to Congress” before ordering a military response.
The Biden government has not yet publicly blamed Tehran for the latest attack, which came just days after US fighters bombed military positions used by Kataib Hezbollah and other Iranian-backed groups in eastern Syria at the end of last week.
“We cannot assign responsibility at this time and we do not have a complete picture of the extent of the damage,” Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said in a statement on Wednesday.
Biden ordered last week’s attack on Syria, which destroyed the intended targets and killed at least one militant, after officials determined that Iran facilitated three separate attacks in Iraq that put Americans in danger.
Iraqi security forces entered the site “almost immediately” after Wednesday’s attack, Kirby said. Iraqi media reported that investigators found a rocket launcher hidden inside a civilian truck that they believe was used in the attack.
The circumstances of the last attack on al-Asad are similar to previous attacks linked to Kataib Hezbollah, the defense officials said. Although a myriad of Shi’ite-based militia groups in Iraq often receive guidance from Tehran, they are not always under direct Iranian control.
Kataib Hezbollah is also believed to have carried out a December 2019 attack on the K-1 airbase in Iraq that killed an American contractor and wounded Iraqi and American troops, unleashing a volley of attacks that culminated in the order of then President Donald Trump. the assassination of Iranian major general Qasem Soleimani. Kataib Hezbollah commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis was also killed in that attack.
In response to Soleimani’s attack, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps launched a flurry of missiles at Al-Asad on January 8, 2020. More than 100 American soldiers suffered traumatic brain injuries during the incident.
Kirby urged caution after this latest attack, but said the United States would respond if necessary.
“We are going to let our Iraqi partners investigate,” he said. “If an answer is justified, I think we have clearly shown that we are not going to run away from that.”
Nick Niedzwiadek contributed to this report.