IRGC commander-in-chief vows to counter U.S. threats

Iran’s adversaries have unleashed a war against the country but Tehran stands firm and will not allow US threats to go unanswered, General Hossein Salami, commander-in-chief of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), said.

"Our enemies have unleashed an economic and psychological war against the people of Iran, threatening the country's security. Today, we hear threats in statements by US officials. You know that we will not leave a single threat unanswered," the Tasnim news agency quoted the general as saying.

Tehran is not looking for war but reserves the right to respond to damage done to its interests, Iranian Vice President Mohammad Dehghan said, commenting on threats from U.S. officials.

"Our message to the US, Israel and all their allies is that we aren’t looking for war. However, if our enemies are stupid and seek to damage Iran’s interests, our hands won’t be tied to protect ourselves," Dehghan stated in an interview with Iran’s Jamaran news agency. According to him, "the US position is not clear to the US itself, which means that the threats aren’t clear as well." He added that "Iran is a strong power" that "does not seek escalation."

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President and his wife enjoyed a banquet at Stockholm Palace while farmers cooked sausages on open fires near Paris in protest over low pay

BREAKING: U.S. carries out ‘self-defense’ strike in Yemen

U.S. to respond to attack on its forces in Middle East, says White House

The U.S. government is now focused on responding to a recent strike targeting a US military base on the Jordanian-Syrian border, U.S. National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby told reporters.

When asked whether the US was planning to act independently or in coordination with its partners to retaliate for the attack, Kirby replied: "We're focusing on US response, they killed American troops."

He also said the Islamic Resistance in Iraq group was responsible for the attack, which left three US service members dead and over 40 wounded. "We believe the attack in Jordan was planned, resourced and facilitated by an umbrella group called the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, which contains multiple groups, including Kata'ib Hezbollah," he said.

When asked whether Kata'ib Hezbollah played a key role in the attack, the US official replied: "This certainly has the earmarks of the kinds of things Kata’ib Hezbollah does." However, he emphasized that "attribution that our intelligence community is comfortable with is that this was done by the umbrella group called the Islamic Resistance in Iraq."

U.S. Navy warship shoots down Iranian drones, Houthi missiles, over Gulf of Ade

The USS Carney shot down three Iranian drones and one anti-ship ballistic missile Wednesday launched from Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen, the U.S. Central Command said in a statement.

The Houthi missile was headed toward the Gulf of Aden at about 8:30 p.m. local time. Forty minutes later, the USS Carney shot down three Iranian unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) nearby.

The U.S. Central Command said there were no injuries or damage reported. The attack comes amid an uptick in tensions in the region. Houthis have been targeting commercial ships and vessels in the Red Sea, prompting U.S. forces to respond with a series of precision strikes.

The Houthis say the attacks, which began in November, are intended to protest the Israel-Hamas war in the region, but many of the recent attacks have no clear ties to Israel. As a result, shipping companies have been forced to find alternative shipping routes, driving up oil prices and delaying the delivery of goods, raising concerns about the effect on the global economy.

U.S. officials said earlier this week that U.S. troops have come under fire from Iranian-backed groups more than 160 times since late October. The attack also comes just a few days after three U.S. service members were killed and about 40 others injured in a deadly drone strike in Jordan Sunday.

Biden has pledged to respond to the attack in a “time and manner of our choosing,” but he has also made clear he does not seek a larger war.

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