White House on Iran Proxy Attacks: ‘Don’t See’ ‘Major’ Escalation from ‘Major Player’

On Monday’s broadcast of “CNN This Morning,” White House National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby commented on attacks launched by Iranian proxies by stating that “we don’t see an indication that a major player is willing to escalate in a major way.” But there have been attacks on American troops in the last few days.

Co-host Phil Mattingly asked, “The secretary of defense said this weekend there’s a prospect of significant escalation. You guys have talked about the concerns about escalation, the efforts toward[s] deterrence. There have obviously been shots back and forth between Iranian proxies, has there been any sign that the type of escalation the administration has been concerned about has started?”

Kirby responded, “Well, we have seen some worrisome attacks, and we’ve got to do what we’ve got to do to protect our troops on the ground, particularly in Iraq and Syria. You’ve seen us add additional military capability to the region. We are watching this very, very closely. So, I don’t want to get ahead of where we are, but right now, we don’t see an indication that a major player is willing to escalate in a major way. That said, I don’t want to diminish the kinds of attacks that we have seen in the last few days on our troops.”

Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett