Iran denies involvement in attack on U.S. forces in Syria, Iraq

TEHRAN, Nov. 8 (Xinhua) -- The Iranian envoy to the United Nations (UN) said that Iran "has never been involved in any attack or action against U.S. forces in Syria and Iraq," the official news agency IRNA reported on Wednesday.

Amir Saeid Iravani, Iran's ambassador and permanent representative to the UN, made the remarks in a letter addressed to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Tuesday.

He rejected as "baseless claims" the accusation made by the United States in a letter to the UN Security Council in late October.

Iravani argued that the U.S. allegations, based on an "arbitrary and incorrect" reading of a UN Charter article, failed to have any legal basis and validity.

He said based on international law, "an occupying state is not entitled to resort to the right of self-defense as a valid justification for its unlawful actions within the occupied territory."

"The U.S. remarks were aimed at whitewashing its illegal military presence and actions in Syria, including targeting civilians and critical infrastructure," he claimed.

He stressed that Iran's presence in Syria was "completely legal" and in response to the Syrian government's official request to be provided with support in its fight against terrorism.

In a letter to the UN Security Council on Oct. 30, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, U.S. representative to the UN, said her country's forces carried out strikes on two facilities in eastern Syria "in response to the ongoing attacks on American personnel in Iraq and Syria," for some of which she blamed groups affiliated to Iran.

She added the U.S. strikes were made as part of the country's right to self-defense under the UN Charter's Article 51.