The Iranian mission to the United Nations denied the exchange of messages with the United States over the past two days.

Iranian sources told Al-Jazeera Arabic that “The US sent more than one message to Tehran over the past two days via third parties,” saying that it did not want an open war and warned that escalation would be met with US retaliatory action.

However, Iran’s mission to the UN stated on Tuesday that “any attack on Iranian soil or its interests and citizens beyond its borders will be met with a firm response.”

Iranian-backed militants conducted a drone attack on US troops in northeastern Jordan, near the Syrian border on Sunday.

The attack resulted in the deaths of three US service members and left over 40 others injured, with five suffering from traumatic brain injuries.

Since October, there have been more than 160 recorded attacks targeting American soldiers in Iraq and Syria. However, less than ten percent of the attacks have been retaliated against.