Iran was among Middle East countries made aware of the airstrikes that began on targets in Syria on Monday night, a White House official told CNN.
"Specifically with a number of countries, including Iran, we indicated that we would be taking action," White House deputy national security adviser Tony Blinken said Tuesday on CNN's
"The Lead with Jake Tapper."
"We obviously didn't say exactly when, or where," Blinken added. "We wanted to make sure that no one got in our way."
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As the United States has sought to build a coalition of partners against the terrorist group Islamic State (ISIS), many neighboring Arab countries have been sought to participate in order to mitigate the impression that non-Islamic Western countries are at war with the Muslim world.
But critics, especially Republicans, don't want Iran as an ally in the fight against ISIS because of controversial talks the Obama administration has been having with Iran over its nuclear program.
Blinken tried to minimize any prior knowledge Iran was given by saying that the whole world was given a heads-up on the airstrikes when President Barack Obama addressed the nation on Sept. 10.
Conservative columnist Charles Krauthammer accused the White House of fishing for a covert alliance with Iran with the implication the United States will "go easy on nukes."
Appearing Tuesday on Fox News Channel's
"Special Report," Krauthammer said it made sense to tell Syria so it wouldn't shoot down U.S. airplanes, but he called informing Iran "a terrible strategy."
Five Arab countries are participating in the current mission. They are Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Qatar and Jordan.
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