Tehran is urging the United States to proceed with caution and diplomacy in the wake of a drone attack launched by Iran-backed militias, which left three U.S. soldiers dead and twenty others wounded. Many in the U.S. who remember the 1979 Islamic Revolution and the seizure of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran see Iran’s most recent aggression as the final straw and are calling for a harsh military response, including direct attacks on Iran.

Iran’s backing of various militias and terrorist groups, ranging from the Houthis in Yemen to Hezbollah in Lebanon and Syria, as well as Hamas in Gaza, is causing destabilization in the Middle East. Since the October 7th Hamas attack on Israel, U.S. bases in Iraq and Syria have been under almost continuous attack from Iran-backed groups. At the same time, Hezbollah has supported Hamas by launching missiles and rockets into Israel.