While the US strikes did not target any locations inside Iran, they are likely to increase concern about tensions in the Middle East.
The US has reportedly approved plans for multi-day strikes in Iraq and Syria against multiple targets, including Iranian personnel and facilities in those countries.
US officials have weighed how to punish Iran-backed militias without triggering a wider war.
While the initial indications were that the drone was likely Iranian, a formal assessment was made only recently after recovering fragments of the drone.
The question is not whether the whole Iranian proxy octopus can be dismantled, but whether Israel, the US and others will seize the initiative.
The decision follows the killing of three US troops in a drone attack near the Jordan-Syria border – an attack that the Pentagon said bore the "footprints" of Kataib Hezbollah.
Iran’s calculations are based on years in which Iran has carried out attacks around the region and has never faced any retaliation.
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