SUBSCRIBER+REPORTING – A lethal strike by an unmanned aerial drone that took three American lives at a U.S. base in Jordan is stoking fears of broader conflict within the Center East.

As anger soars over American assist for Israel’s conflict in Gaza, Iranian-backed militia teams have launched continuous assaults in opposition to U.S. bases within the area. The concern – earlier than the weekend assault – was that a type of strikes would take American lives, turning what had been a cautious sample of smaller-scale strikes and counterstrikes between the U.S. and Iranian-backed teams into one thing much more harmful, maybe even a full-on conflict between the U.S. and Iran.