LONDON, June 19 (Newswires) - There will not be any military confrontation between Iran and the United States, the secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council was quoted as saying on Wednesday by state news agency IRNA.

Worries about a military confrontation between Iran and the United States have mounted since attacks last week on two oil tankers near the Gulf. Washington blamed long-time foe Iran for the attacks but Tehran denied any responsibility.

"There will not be a military confrontation between Iran and America since there is no reason for a war. Accusing other countries has turned into a common practice among U.S. officials as they try to pressure other counties," Ali Shamkhani said.

However, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has told Tehran that the death of a single US service member would trigger a military response, the Washington Post reports.

According to the newspaper, Pompeo made this remark at his emergency visit to Baghdad, after the White House picked up intelligence allegedly showing that Iran or its proxies were threatening US interests in the Middle East.

A person with knowledge of the situation was quoted as saying that Pentagon officials, including outgoing Acting Defence Secretary Patrick Shanahan, have been "the ones putting the brakes" on hawks at the State Department and the White House.

However, Shanahan’s upcoming departure from Pentagon’s top slot is understood to have raised concerns that the more belligerent Trump administration will push the military aside and involve it in further escalation of the conflict.

Gen. Paul Selva, the nation's second-highest-ranking military officer, warned on Tuesday that “if the Iranians come after US citizens, US assets or the US military, we reserve the right to respond with military action,” and that would also apply to Iranian-aligned militias in the Middle East.