No direct Iran order for proxies to attack US troops, Pentagon says
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The United States has not seen a direct order from Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to attack U.S. troops in the region, the Pentagon said on Monday following a rise in attacks in Iraq and Syria by suspected Iran-backed groups.
U.S. forces have been repeatedly targeted by missiles and drones since the Israel-Gaza conflict began on Oct. 7 with Palestinian Hamas militants attacking southern Israe
l.”We don’t necessarily see that Iran has explicitly ordered them to take these kinds of attacks,” Pentagon spokesperson Brigadier General Patrick Ryder told reporters.
Pressed on the issue, Ryder added: “We haven’t seen a direct order, for example, from the Supreme Leader saying: ‘Go out and do this.'”
Ryder, however, said that the United States ultimately holds Iran responsible for such attacks by militant groups “by virtue of the fact that they are supported by Iran.”
Iranian security officials told Reuters Iran’s strategy was for Middle East proxies like Hezbollah to pursue limited strikes on Israeli and U.S. targets but to avoid a major escalation that would draw in Tehran, a high-wire act for the Islamic Republic.
