The US Department of Defense (the Pentagon) on Tuesday retracted the comments of Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense Dana Stroul in Congress about the source of the attack on the oil tanker "Mercer Street" owned by an Israeli businessman in the Gulf of Oman, and said, The ministry has not confirmed that the attack was launched from Yemen.

"During today's briefing, Dana Stroul did not confirm that the Mercer Street attack originated in Yemen, and referred to the G7 statement and US Central Command investigations that clearly attributed the attack to Iran but did not mention any direct connection to Yemen," Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said.

A Defense Department official told CNN that Stroll privately claimed it was a mistake and that she did not hear the word "Yemen" in Senator Todd Young's question. The official added that Stroll did not intend to imply a link to Yemen.

The Pentagon did not specifically say whether Stroll's comments were inaccurate or simply did not have the authority to confirm that the attack originated in Yemen.

During a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on US security assistance in the Middle East, Senator Todd Young asked Stroll if she could confirm reports that the recent attack on Mercer Street was launched from Yemen by Iranian drones.

“Yes, I can confirm that,” Stroul responded, noting that a Central Command investigation concluded that the drone used in that attack was manufactured in Iran.

After the Pentagon retreat, Young said, in a statement to CNN, that "the administration should be clear about the threats posed by Iran and its proxies throughout the region."

"At the hearing, I asked the witness about threats to commercial shipping from Iranian-backed groups in Yemen," he added. He continued, "The Pentagon can undo the answers given in the hearings, but they cannot undo the clear threat that Iran and its proxies pose to the region."