KEY POINTS
- Jake Sullivan said the U.S. plans to carry out further strikes and additional action
- This is with the intention of continuing to send a clear message, Sullivan said
- The U.S. struck Houthi targets in Yemen as well as other targets in Iraq and Syria over the last few days
The U.S. plans to carry out further strikes on Iran-backed groups in the Middle East, the White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said Sunday.
After hitting Tehran-aligned factions in Iraq, Syria, and Yemen over the last few days, Sullivan said the U.S. is not seeking a wider conflict in the region but intends to take "additional action" to send a "clear message."
"The president has been very clear from the beginning, which is that when American forces are attacked, we will respond, and we've responded several times over the course of the past few months," Sullivan said during an interview on NBC News' "Meet the Press."
"We intend to take additional strikes and additional action to continue to send a clear message that the United States will respond when our forces are attacked or our people are killed," he added.
The U.S. and the UK led attacks against 36 Houthi targets in Yemen over the weekend as part of the effort to destabilize the Iran-backed group, which has carried out repeated attacks on shipping.
U.S. military forces also conducted strikes Friday against more than 85 targets in Iraq and Syria in response to the Jan. 28 drone strike that killed three U.S. soldiers in Jordan. These targets included command and control centers, intelligence facilities, and weapons storage facilities used by the Iran-backed militias to attack U.S. and coalition forces, according to an official statement.
The recent strikes from the U.S. are "not the end" of the president's ongoing military response, Sullivan said.
"We do believe that the strikes had good effect in degrading the capabilities of these militia groups to attack us, and we do believe that as we continue, we will be able to continue to send a strong message about the United States' firm resolve to respond when our forces are attacked," he added.
When asked whether the U.S. will conduct strikes inside Iran, Sullivan did not give details on whether or not this was ruled out. "I'm not going to get into what we've ruled in and ruled out from the point of view of military action," he said.
"What I will say is that the president is determined to respond forcefully to attacks on our people. The president also is not looking for a wider war in the Middle East," he added.
