BAGHDAD - Iran angrily blamed the United States on Friday after at least three of its diplomats were wounded in a Baghdad shooting, saying Americans encourage attacks on Iranians in Iraq.

The United States defended the actions of Iraqi security forces but said that Americans were not involved and that the United States "condemns any attack on guests or visitors of any country."

The shooting may have been by Iraqi soldiers during an argument at a checkpoint. It comes amid unprecedented strains between Iran and the Iraqi leadership, which has long been close to Iran.

With the United States and an emboldened Iran jostling for power and influence in the Middle East, Iranian officials have complained in recent weeks that Iraq's Shiite-dominated leadership is bowing too much to Washington. The tensions have been fueled in part by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's crackdowns in the past two months against Shiite militiamen. The United States accuses Iran of backing the militiamen -- a claim Iran denies.

The shooting Thursday occurred as the Iranians' convoy approached a bridge leading to a Shiite shrine in the northern Baghdad neighborhood of Kazimiyah.

Qassim Atta, an Iraqi military spokesman in Baghdad, said "unknown gunmen" were behind the attack. Iranian Embassy spokesman Manoucher Taslimi said he did not know who the gunmen were.

There were varying reports on how many were wounded.

Taslimi said two Iranian diplomats, another Iranian and an Iraqi administrative employee had been wounded and were in stable condition.

Lt. David Russell, a U.S. military spokesman in Baghdad, said the Iraqi army had found four wounded Iranians in a vehicle with an Iraqi driver.

Reports indicate Iraqi security forces "handled the situation appropriately and with a high degree of professionalism," Russell said by e-mail.

In Tehran, Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini criticized the United States, saying its harsh rhetoric against Iran fuels attacks on Iranians. U.S. statements "encourage inhuman behavior by occupiers and terrorist groups active in Iraq," he said. "Responsibility for providing security to diplomats as well as diplomatic and international bodies in Iraq rests with the occupiers. The suspicious behavior of U.S. forces in security issues has brought increasing insecurity in Iraq."

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