Iran’s Foreign Ministry denied on Tuesday that Tehran was behind violent protests at the US embassy in Iraq on Tuesday.
The comment came after US President Donald Trump said the country was “orchestrating” an attack on the mission.
“America has the surprising audacity of attributing to Iran the protests of the Iraqi people against (Washington’s) savage killing of at least 25 Iraqis...,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi said in a statement quoted by Reuters.
Iraqi militants laid siege to the US Embassy in Baghdad earlier on Tuesday, setting fires and smashing security cameras before forcing their way into the compound.
Trump tweeted that the US held the Islamic Republic “fully responsible” for the siege.
Hours later, he threatened Iran again on Twitter, writing, “Iran will be held fully responsible for lives lost, or damage incurred, at any of our facilities. They will pay a very BIG PRICE! This is not a Warning, it is a Threat.”
The riots broke out after thousands gathered outside of the US Embassy to protest the recent US air strikes in Iraq and Syria against an Iranian-backed militia which the US said was responsible for a rocket attack that killed an American civilian contractor and injured several US military service members.
At least 25 fighters were killed and 55 more injured in the US air strikes over the weekend, which hit five camps of the Shiite group Kata'ib Hezbollah, a close ally of Iran linked to the Lebanese terror group Hezbollah.