"Iraq, like every country in the region, understood that there would be a response after the deaths of our soldiers. As for this specific response on Friday, there was not a pre-notification. We informed the Iraqis immediately after the strikes occurred," Patel said.
Last week, Kirby said that the United States had informed the Iraqi government about its operation prior to conducting the strikes.
In January 2024, three US soldiers were killed in an attack on a US base in Jordan, which further spiraled tensions as the US retaliated by striking what it said were Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) targets in Syria and Iraq.
Iran has denied playing any role in the attack in Jordan. Tehran says that resistance groups in the Middle East do not receive any instructions from Iran.
Both Iraq and Syria condemned the US strikes on their territory, and the Iraqi parliament's Security and Defense Committee called for the quick signing of an agreement on the withdrawal of the international coalition troops from the country.