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BAGHDAD, Iraq Irans Revolutionary Guard says a U.S. drone strike killed two of its advisers near the Iraqi city of Tikrit, where a major offensive is underway against the Islamic State group, but the U.S. said Monday its coalition conducted no airstrikes in the area during the time of the incident.

U.S. Central Command said it didnt target the area around Tikrit from March 22 through March 24, the window when the Guard said the two men were killed.

The claim came as negotiators from six world powers and Iran attempted to reach a deal on Tehrans contested nuclear program, which hard-liners in the Islamic Republic fear will end with Tehran giving away too much to the West.

READ: After US airstrikes, Iraq troops start final push for Tikrit

The Guard said on its sepahnews.ir website that the strike happened March 23 as the men supported Iraqi forces trying to retake the Islamic State-held city of Tikrit. It identified the dead advisers as Ali Yazdani and Hadi Jafari, saying they were buried Sunday. It did not say whether Iran contacted Iraqi or U.S. forces after the strike.

Iran occasionally reports on the death of its forces in Iraq and in Syria, where its advisers support embattled President Bashar Assad, but this is the first time Iran has said it lost forces in a U.S. attack in those campaigns.

The U.S.-led coalition began surveillance around Tikrit, Saddam Husseins hometown, on March 21 after the Iraqi offensive had stalled. The coalition said it began airstrikes on Tikrit the night of March 25.

The U.S. Air Forces Central Command recorded no strikes by coalition aircraft, manned or unmanned, in the vicinity of Tikrit from 22 to 24 March, spokesman Col. Edward T. Sholtis said in response to an AP query.

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Another U.S. official said Monday that the United States had seen no information to back up Irans claims, but that officials were looking into it. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the issue publicly.

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Iran says US drone kills 2 advisers in Iraq; US denies claim