Washington, May 24 (RHC)-- U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan and intelligence officials met with members of the House and Senate for briefings on the situation with Iran.

Patrick Shanahan said the U.S. had received “credible intelligence about threats to our interests in the Middle East and to American forces.” He also repeated an earlier refrain from the administration that the current U.S. strategy is about deterrence, not starting a war. He said the deterrence measures had been successful in “put[ting] on hold” possible attacks on Americans for now.

But Democratic lawmakers questioned the briefing, which they said did not further clarify the administration’s plans going forward. Chair of the House Armed Services Committee Adam Smith warned about the risk of miscalculations on both sides and asked: “What is this maximum pressure campaign trying to achieve?”

In related news, Iraq said it will send delegations to Washington and Tehran in an attempt to “halt tension.” Iraq said it does not want war in the region, two days after a rocket attack in Baghdad that the United States believes may have been linked to militias with ties to Tehran. Iran has rejected the claims.