“OIR [Operation Inherent Resolve] is now at a high level of alert as we continue to closely monitor credible and possibly imminent threats to US forces in Iraq,” Urban said in the statement on Tuesday.

Earlier in the day, the US-led coalition’s deputy commander, British Maj. Gen. Christopher Ghika, said in a press briefing that the threat level by Iranian-backed groups against coalition forces in Iraq and Syria has not risen.

The coalition has observed “no change in their posture since the recent exchange between the United States and Iran and we hope and expect that that will continue… We don’t see an increased threat from them at this stage,” Ghika told reporters.

Previously, Pentagon increased its military presence in the Middle Eastern region amid growing tensions with Iran, sending an aircraft carrier strike group to the Persian Gulf.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif accused the United States of unnecessarily escalating the situation in the region in remarks to reporters Monday. Iran is not seeking conflict with the US, Zarif said during a visit to India, “but we have always defended ourselves.”

Source: Agecnies