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JERUSALEM 鈥� After a weekend of retaliatory strikes, the United States on Sunday warned Iran and the militias it arms and funds that it will conduct more attacks if American forces in the Mideast continue to be targeted, but that it does not want an 鈥渙pen-ended military campaign鈥� across the region.

鈥淲e are prepared to deal with anything that any group or any country tries to come at us with,鈥� said Jake Sullivan, President Joe Biden鈥檚 national security adviser. Sullivan said Iran should expect 鈥渁 swift and forceful response鈥� if it 鈥� and not one of its proxies 鈥� 鈥渃hose to respond directly鈥� against the U.S.

Sullivan delivered the warnings during a series of interviews with TV news shows after the U.S. and Britain on Saturday struck 36 Houthi targets in Yemen. The Iran-backed militants have fired on American and international interests repeatedly in the wake of the Israel-Hamas war.

READ: US launches retaliatory strikes in Iraq, Syria; nearly 40 killed

An air assault Friday in Iraq and Syria targeted other Iranian-backed militias and the Iranian Revolutionary Guard in retaliation for the drone strike that killed three U.S. troops in Jordan last weekend. The U.S. fired again at Houthi targets on Sunday.

鈥淲e cannot rule out that there will be future attacks from Iranian-backed militias in Iraq and Syria or from the Houthis,鈥� Sullivan said. He said the president has told his commanders that 鈥渢hey need to be positioned to respond to further attacks as well.鈥�

The U.S. has blamed the attack at the Tower 22 base in Jordan on Jan. 28 on the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, a coalition of Iranian-backed militias. Iran has tried to distance itself from the drone strike, saying the militias act independently of its direction.

Biden 鈥渋s not looking for a wider war,鈥� Sullivan said, when questioned about the potential for strikes inside Iran that would expand the conflict in the volatile region. But when asked about the possibility of direct escalation by the Iranians, he said: 鈥淚f they chose to respond directly to the United States, they would be met with a swift and forceful response from us.鈥�

While pledging to respond in a 鈥渟ustained way鈥� to new assaults on Americans, Sullivan said he 鈥渨ould not describe it as some open-ended military campaign.鈥�

Still, he said, 鈥淲e intend to take additional strikes and additional action to continue to send a clear message that the United States will respond when our forces are attacked or our people are killed.鈥�

There will be more steps taken, he said. 鈥淪ome of those steps will be seen. Some may not be seen.鈥�

The U.S. attack on dozens of sites in Iraq and Syria hit more than 85 targets at seven locations. These included command and control headquarters, intelligence centers, rockets and missiles, drone and ammunition storage sites and other facilities that were connected to the militias or the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps鈥� Quds Force, the expeditionary unit that handles Tehran鈥檚 relationship with, and arming of, regional militias.

The Biden administration has so far appeared to stop short of directly targeting Iran or senior leaders of the Quds Force within its borders.

The U.S. military does not have any confirmation at this time of civilian casualties from those strikes, Sullivan said. 鈥淲hat we do know is that the targets we hit were absolutely valid targets from the point of view of containing the weaponry and the personnel that were attacking American forces. So, we are confident in the targets that we struck.鈥�

READ: US strikes targets in Iraq after forces wounded

Some of the militias have been a threat to U.S. bases for years, but the groups intensified their assaults in the wake of Israel鈥檚 war with Hamas following the Oct. 7 attack on Israel that killed 1,200 people and saw 250 others taken hostage. More than 27,000 people have been killed by Israel鈥檚 offensive against Hamas in Gaza, the territory鈥檚 Health Ministry has said,

The Houthis have conducted almost daily missile or drone attacks against commercial and military ships transiting the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden and they have made clear that they have no intention of scaling back their campaign despite a new international force to protect vessels in the vital waterway.

U.S. strikes overnight Sunday struck across six provinces of Yemen held by the Houthi rebels, including in Sanaa, the capital. The Houthis gave no assessment of the damage but the U.S. described hitting underground missile arsenals, launch sites and helicopters used by the rebels.

鈥淭hese attacks will not discourage Yemeni forces and the nation from maintaining their support for Palestinians in the face of the Zionist occupation and crimes,鈥� Houthi military spokesman Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree said. 鈥淭he aggressors鈥� airstrikes will not go unanswered.鈥�

Meanwhile, Iran warned the U.S. over potentially targeting two cargo ships in the Mideast long suspected of serving as forwarding operating bases for Iranian commandos. The statement from Iran on the Behshad and Saviz ships appeared to signal Tehran鈥檚 growing unease over the U.S. strikes across the region.

The ships are registered as commercial cargo ships with a Tehran-based company the U.S. Treasury has sanctioned as a front for the state-run Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines. The Saviz, then later the Behshad, have loitered for years in the Red Sea off Yemen, suspected of serving as spy positions for Iran鈥檚 Revolutionary Guard.

In the video statement by Iran鈥檚 regular army, a narrator describes the vessels as 鈥渇loating armories.鈥� The narrator describes the Behshad as aiding an Iranian mission to 鈥渃ounteract piracy in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.鈥� But Iran is not publicly known to have taken part in any of the recent campaigns against rising Somali piracy in the region off the back of the Houthi attacks.

Just before the new campaign of U.S. airstrikes began, the Behshad traveled south into the Gulf of Aden. It鈥檚 now docked in Djibouti in East Africa just off the coast from a Chinese military base in the country.

The statement ends with a warning overlaid with a montage of footage of U.S. warships and an American flag.

鈥淭hose engaging in terrorist activities against Behshad or similar vessels jeopardize international maritime routes, security and assume global responsibility for potential future international risks,鈥� the video said.

The U.S. Navy鈥檚 Mideast-based 5th Fleet declined to comment over the threat.

The Saviz is now in the Indian Ocean near where the U.S. alleges Iranian drone attacks recently have targeted shipping.

Sullivan appeared on NBC鈥檚 鈥淢eet the Press,鈥� ABC鈥檚 鈥淭his Week,鈥� CNN鈥檚 鈥淪tate of the Union鈥� and CBS鈥� 鈥淔ace the Nation.鈥�