Sullivan vows ‘further action’ after US carries out retaliatory strikes on Iranian-linked militia targets

“I would just say that the president was clear when he ordered them and when he conducted them that that was the beginning of our response and there will be more steps to come,” Sullivan told CNN’s Dana Bash on “State of the Union.”

Sullivan, in response to Bash asking whether that meant the US was planning additional strikes, said, “What it means is that we will take further action.

“I’m not going to, obviously, describe the character of that action because I don’t want to telegraph our punches,” he said, “but there will be further action.”

The promise of further action from the Biden administration comes after the US has adopted a “multi-tiered” response to the drone attack that killed three US service members and wounded more than 40 others last week. The attack brought the worst loss of US military life in the region in nearly three years and the first US military fatalities since the war in Gaza erupted.

On Friday, the US hit 85 targets across seven locations in Iraq and Syria.

The US strikes killed at least 16 people in Iraq, including civilians, and injured 25 others, the Iraqi government said Friday. The attacks hit areas close to the border with Syria and targeted facilities used by Iranian-linked al Hashd al Shabi — or Popular Mobilization Units — in the Iraqi city of Al-Qaim, Iraqi officials said.

The next day, the US and UK conducted strikes on at least 30 Houthi targets in Yemen from air and surface platforms, including fighter jets, with the support of several other countries.

The-CNN-Wire™ & © 2024 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.