US bolsters defenses at Jordan base as it readies response to deadly drone attack

WASHINGTON — The US has bolstered defenses at a base in Jordan that was attacked by Iran-backed militants as it prepares for a wider US response to a drone attack that killed three service members, a US official says.

While previous US responses have been more limited, the attack on Tower 22, as the Jordan outpost is known, and the deaths of the three service members has crossed a line, the official says. The base was struck by an Iranian-made drone fired from Iraq, the official says.

In the days since the attack, the US has bolstered the defenses around Tower 22, which houses about 350 US troops and sits near the demilitarized zone on the border between Jordan and Syria. The Iraqi border is only 6 miles (10 kilometers) away.

In response, the US is weighing response options to include striking militia leaders. The US options under consideration include targets in Syria, Yemen and Iraq, where the Iranian-made drone that killed the service members was fired from, the official says.

The US has blamed the Jordan attack on the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, a coalition of Iranian-backed militias.