Iran denies involvement in drone attack that killed 3 US soldiers in Jordan

Iran has denied involvement in a drone attack in Jordan that killed three US military personnel and injured dozens of others, state media has reported.

US President Joe Biden and UK Foreign Secretary David Cameron have blamed Iran-backed groups for Sunday’s attack near the border with Syria.

“As we have clearly stated before, the resistance groups in the region are responding [to] the war crimes and genocide of the child-killing Zionist regime and… they do not take orders from the Islamic Republic of Iran,” Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Nasser Kanaani was quoted saying by IRNA on Monday.

“These groups decide and act based on their own principles and priorities as well as the interests of their country and people.”

Kanaani said claims of Iranian involvement were motivated by “specific political goals to reverse the realities of the region” and were “influenced by third parties, including the child-killing Zionist regime”.

Iran’s mission to the United Nations also said in a statement carried by IRNA that Tehran had “no connection and had nothing to do” with the attack, which it blamed on “conflict between US forces and resistance groups in the region”.

The Islamic Resistance in Iraq, an umbrella organisation of Iran-backed armed groups, has claimed responsibility for the attack.

The drone strike on Tower 22, a logistics support base, marked the first loss of American life by enemy fire since the start of the war in Gaza.

Biden, who has staunchly backed Israel’s war in Gaza, condemned the “despicable and wholly unjust attack” and has vowed to hold all those responsible “to account at a time and in a manner [of] our choosing”.

Washington has accused Iranian-backed groups of carrying out dozens of attacks on US military installations in Iraq and Syria since the start of the war.