An American citizen was killed in an Iranian missile and drone attack in northern Iraq on Wednesday, a State Department spokeswoman said.
Vedant Patel told reporters on Thursday that a U.S. citizen was killed as a result of a rocket attack in the Iraqi Kurdistan region.
Patel said that they reaffirmation that they condemn Iran's violations of Iraq's sovereignty and territorial integrity.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement: We stand with the people and government of Iraq in the face of these brazen attacks on their sovereignty.
The death of the American was first reported by Iran International, a Persian-language media outlet based in London.
An American killed in the Iranian attack will ratchet up tensions between the U.S. and Iran and likely lead to calls from U.S. lawmakers to retaliate.
A U.S. military spokesperson said that a U.S. F-15 shot down an Iranian drone that posed a potentially serious threat to U.S. troops in the area.
President Joe Biden previously ordered air raids on Iranian-backed militia outposts in eastern Syria after the groups launched rocket attacks on American troops in Iraq.
Iranian-Kurdish opposition group in northern Iraq, Kurdish, and U.S. officials said on Wednesday that the Iranian attack targeted an Iranian-Kurdish group. Iran has launched missile and drone strikes on terrorist bases, according to a statement by the Iranian government.
Kurdish health officials in Iraq said the death toll from the assault was now at 13, and civilians at a refugee camp were among the casualties.
Iran has been hit with a series of street protests sparked by the death of an Iranian Kurdish woman in police custody. The 22-year-old, Mahsa Amini, was arrested for allegedly failing to comply with the country's strict dress code for women, which requires them to cover their hair and wear loose-fitting clothing.
The U.S. accused Iran of trying to deflect blame for the protests by focusing on Kurdish opposition groups in northern Iraq.
Over the past several days, Iran has staged a series of attacks on Kurdish targets, and alleged Kurdish groups have encouraged the demonstrations that have swept through Iran for more than a week.
The protests, the most serious challenge to the regime since 2009, have been marked by unprecedented defiance by Iranian women who have sometimes burned their headscarves in front of large crowds or cut their hair.