US preparing for Iranian retaliatory strike, American troops face constant threat

The White House has warned of the substantial threat faced by U.S. troops in Iraq and Syria amid a stream of threats issued by Iranian leadership in response to a suspected Israeli airstrike that killed several Iranian personnel last week near its embassy in Damascus. Addressing the warnings at a virtual press briefing, National Security Council Strategic Communicators Coordinator John Kirby declined to go into specific intelligence matters but reiterated President Joe Biden's assurances that "the Israeli government could count on the United States' support for any self-defense needs against threats directly by Iran to Israel, threats that Iran has made public," and discussed preparations for potential risks to U.S. personnel as well. "Our own people, not just our troops, but our diplomatic personnel as well in Iraq and Syria, are under constant threat," Kirby said. "We take that seriously and we take the appropriate force protection measures we need to as the threat changes to make sure that they can protect themselves, and that has not changed. That will not change.