Iran Denies Involvement in Attacks on U.S. Forces

On Tuesday, the semi-official news agency Tasnim reported that Iran's UN representative, Amir Saeed Iravani, stated that the country has not participated in any acts or attacks against U.S. forces. The United States has attributed a series of attacks in Middle Eastern waters to the Iranian-aligned Houthi movement since the outbreak of war between Israel and the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) on October 7. Iran-backed armed factions are also carrying out attacks targeting U.S. forces in Iraq and Syria. U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said in a press conference on Monday that Washington "has reason to believe that these attacks (on ships in the Red Sea) were fully supported by Iran, even though the Houthis in Yemen executed them." The most recent of these attacks involved three commercial ships in international waters south of the Red Sea on Sunday. The Houthis claimed responsibility for the attacks using drones and missiles, stating they targeted two Israeli ships in the area. The U.S. Navy destroyer USS Carney shot down three drones on Sunday after receiving distress calls from commercial vessels. The U.S. military stated that the three ships are linked to 14 separate countries. Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanani also rejected British government claims that Iran is responsible for any attacks carried out by Iran-backed armed groups, describing these accusations as "baseless and unconstructive." Kanani added, "As we have clearly stated before, the resistance factions do not receive orders from Tehran to confront the war crimes and genocide committed by Israel."