Iran says it has no link to drone strike in Jordan that killed US soldiers

Iran views claims it is involved in an attack that killed three U.S. service members in northeastern Jordan near Syria's border as "baseless", foreign ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanaani said on Monday.

Kanaani also said the continuation of U.S. strikes on Syria and Iraq as well as the war in Gaza will only intensify a cycle of instability in the region.

U.S. President Biden blamed Iran-backed groups for the unmanned aerial drone attack on U.S. forces, the first deadly strike against U.S. forces since the Israel-Hamas war erupted in October and sent shock waves throughout the Middle East.

Kanaani said "resistance groups" do not take orders from the Islamic Republic.

Earlier, Iran's Mission to the United States issued a statement affirming that "Iran had no connection and had nothing to do with the attack on the U.S. base."

It added: "There is a conflict between U.S. forces and resistance groups in the region, which reciprocate retaliatory attacks."

The attack is a major escalation of the already tense situation in the Middle East, where war broke out in Gaza after an attack by Palestinian Islamist group Hamas on Israel on Oct. 7.