Iran has officially denied any involvement in the drone attack that took place in Jordan, resulting in the tragic deaths of three US military personnel and leaving dozens of others wounded. The attack, which occurred near the border with Syria, has heightened tensions in the region.
US President Joe Biden has publicly attributed the attack to Iran-backed groups. In response to these allegations, the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, through its spokesman Nasser Kanaani, issued a statement. Kanaani was quoted saying by IRNA on Monday, “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. These groups decide and act based on their own principles and priorities as well as the interests of their country and people.”
Kanaani further asserted that claims of Iranian involvement were politically motivated and aimed at altering the regional realities. He suggested that these claims were influenced by third parties, including Israel, whom he referred to as the “child-killing Zionist regime.”
Iran’s mission to the United Nations also released a statement carried by IRNA, reiterating Iran’s denial of any connection to the attack. In the statement, Tehran blamed the incident on a “conflict between US forces and resistance groups in the region.”
The attack occurred at a base in northeast Jordan, near the Syria border, marking the first instance of American casualties due to enemy fire since the beginning of the conflict in Gaza.
President Biden, who has been a staunch supporter of Israel’s actions in Gaza, condemned the attack as “despicable and wholly unjust.” He pledged to hold those responsible “to account at a time and in a manner [of] our choosing.”
