President Biden said Tuesday he’s decided how to respond to the drone strike that killed three U.S. troops in Jordan, but said he doesn’t want a wider conflict in the Middle East.

Departing for Florida, Mr. Biden told reporters that he holds Iran partly responsible for the deaths, though he didn’t elaborate on possible targets.

“I do hold them responsible in the sense that they’re supplying the weapons to the people who did it,” he said outside the White House.

Mr. Biden declined to say whether his team established a direct link to Iran, saying: “We’ll have that discussion.”

An enemy drone on Sunday struck a small military installation known as Tower 22, killing three American troops and injuring about 40 more. Some reports suggest the weapon might have been mistaken for a U.S. drone returning to the installation, so it wasn’t shot down.

Calls for an urgent response are putting Mr. Biden in a tough spot. He wants to retaliate, though doesn’t want to worsen matters in an already turbulent Middle East, where Houthis rebels are attacking ships in the Red Sea and Israel is rooting out Hamas militants in Gaza.

Some Republican hardliners want Mr. Biden to hit Iran within its borders, but many analysts see that as unlikely.

“I don’t think we need a wider war in the Middle East,” Mr. Biden said. “That’s not what I’m looking for.”

• Tom Howell Jr. can be reached at thowell@washingtontimes.com.