US outraged by recent rocket attacks in Iraq but will not lash out

US State Department spokesman Ned Price speaks during daily press briefing at the State Department in Washington, DC, on Feb. 22, 2021. (AFP)

• US was still determining who was behind last week’s attack on Irbil

LONDON: The United States said Monday it would hold Iran to account for its Iraqi allies after rocket fire hit the US embassy in Baghdad, but insisted it would not be drawn into an escalation.
“We have seen the reports of the rocket fire today ... as you heard us say in the aftermath of the tragic attack in Irbil, we are outraged by the recent attacks,” US State Department spokesman Ned Price told reporters.
Price said Washington was also outraged by recent rocket attacks on coalition forces and others in Iraq and said, “We will hold Iran responsible for the actions of its proxies that attack Americans.”
He said the United States was still determining who was behind last week’s attack on the Irbil International Airport compound that killed a contractor working with US forces at the military base on the compound. 
“What we will not do is lash out and risk an escalation that plays into the hands of Iran and contributes to their attempts to further destabilize Iraq,” Price said, adding that the US will respond at a time and place of its choosing.
(With AFP and Reuters)