The Chief-of-Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces, General Mohammad Bagheri, said on Thursday that the targeting of the U.S. forces in Iraq is not ordered by Tehran.

Bagheri said that the recent attacks on the American bases in Iraq are a natural reaction by the Iraqi people and the resistance groups to the assassination of Qassem Soleimani and Abu Mahdi Al-Muhandis.

The Iranian commander pointed out that the American military forces expanded their activities recently in Iraq and the Gulf region, noting that his country’s forces monitored the American military moves in Iraq accurately.

Bagheri affirmed the readiness of his country’s defense systems in the air, sea, and land, and that these forces would respond vehemently to any American threat or action against Iranian national security.

On Monday, the U.S. deployed their Patriot Missile Defense System to Iraq amid growing fears of a new military conflict between the American troops and Iranian-backed forces.

The U.S. has reportedly deployed the Patriot System at the ‘Ayn Al-Assad Airbase in the Al-Anbar Governorate and the Harir Airbase in the Erbil Governorate.

Source » almasdarnews