Jake Sullivan Says U.S. Will Take ‘Further Action’ After Bombing Middle East

The national security adviser maintained that the U.S. is still opposed to a regional war, despite ongoing retaliatory strikes against Iran-backed militias.

National security adviser Jake Sullivan has said that the United States will take “further action” following the country’s retaliatory airstrikes this weekend in multiple Middle Eastern countries — a move that could possibly result in a broader regional conflict.

In the past few days, the U.S. has launched strikes in Iraq, Syria and Yemen in what officials say is an effort to target Iran-backed militias. The strikes are in retaliation for a recent drone attack by militants that killed three American military personnel in Jordan – the first attack to result in U.S. combat deaths from such militias since the violence between Israel and Hamas escalated on Oct. 7.

“From our perspective, each action that we take is targeted at reducing the capabilities of the militias to be able to continue to conduct attacks against us and to send a clear message that the United States will respond when our forces are attacked, and we will respond with strength in a sustained way when American casualties are incurred,” Sullivan told Dana Bash on CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday.

The adviser did not directly answer Bash’s question on how he defines success when it comes to the U.S. retaliatory campaign.

On Friday night, the U.S. military launched an air assault on dozens of sites in Iraq and Syria used by Iran-backed militias and the Iranian Revolutionary Guard. The military then launched strikes overnight Sunday across several Yemeni provinces allegedly held by the Houthi rebels, an attack the U.S. said targeted underground missile arsenals.