US denies involvement in Israeli strike on Iranian embassy in Damascus

The United States said on Tuesday that it had no involvement in the Israeli air strike targeting the Iranian embassy compound in Damascus, Syria, which resulted in the deaths of two Iranian generals and five military advisors.

White House national security spokesman John Kirby labelled Iranian accusations of US involvement in Monday's bombing as "nonsense" and cautioned that Washington would react to any retaliatory strikes.

"Let me make it clear. We had nothing to do with the strike in Damascus," he told a briefing. "We weren't involved in any way."

"We always take our force protection very seriously, to protect our troops, our facilities in Iraq and Syria," Kirby said. "We will do whatever we need to do to protect those troops."

Pentagon spokesperson Sabrina Singh said Israel provided no advance warning of the strike on the Iranian mission in the Syrian capital.

"We were not notified by the Israelis about their strike or the intended target of their strike in Damascus," Singh  a briefing, adding that Iran had been privately told the US was not behind the strike.