The United States has not seen a direct order from Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to attack US troops in the region, the Pentagon said on Monday following a spate of attacks in Iraq and Syria by suspected Iran-backed groups.
"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."