Regional armed groups aligned with Iran respond to "American aggressors" at their own discretion, the Iranian minister of intelligence said on Monday, a day after three US soldiers were killed in attacks on US bases in Jordan.
Esmail Khatib, speaking on Iranian state TV, used the phrase "Axis of Resistance", which refers to a loose coalition that includes Hamas and armed Shi'ite Muslim groups around the region that have militarily confronted Israel and its Western allies.
The Islamic Resistance in Iraq, an umbrella organization of hardline Iran-backed militant groups, claimed the attacks on three bases, including one on the Jordan-Syria border.