US asked Tehran not to target American facilities, senior Iran official says

A top Iranian diplomat said Friday that Washington asked Tehran not to target American facilities, which comes after an Israeli strike in Damascus killed senior Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) officials.

“In a written message, the Islamic Republic of Iran warns US leadership not to get dragged in Netanyahu’s trap for US: Stay away so you won’t get hurt,” said Mohammad Jamshidi, the deputy chief of staff for political affairs to Iran’s president.

In a post on X, he said: “In response US asked Iran not to target American facilities.”

A White House National Security Council official said that this was inaccurate, calling it “simply wrong – it’s Iranian spin.”

The IRGC said Monday that seven of its members, including two senior commanders, were killed in an Israeli airstrike targeting Iran’s consulate in the Syrian capital.

US officials did receive a message from Iran following the strike in Damascus, but Washington warned Iran to not use the attack as a pretext to further escalate in the region or attack US facilities or personnel.

The Pentagon said that the US reached out to Iran after the attack to say that they were not responsible for the strike. “We were not notified by the Israelis about their strike or the intended target of their strike in Damascus,” Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh said earlier this week.