Iranian military officials have denied Iraqi charges that Tehran was involved in a recent bloody uprising by Iraqi Shia militia and said Iran wanted a friendly relationship with its western neighbour.
Tehran has been angered by a number of accusations levelled by Iraqi Defence Minister Hazim al-Shalaan, who labelled Iran as Iraq's prime enemy and said its fingerprints could be seen in the recent fighting in Najaf.
Tensions between the two countries, who fought a bitter 1980-1988 war in which hundreds of thousands were killed, were exacerbated by the kidnapping last week of an Iranian diplomat by a group calling itself the Islamic Army in Iraq.
Mr Shalaan told Al Arabiya television yesterday that Shia Muslim rebels were using arms obtained from Iran to wage a bloody uprising in Najaf, where fighting has raged for days.
Iranian Defence Minister Ali Shamkhani said there was "no logical reason or proof that would verify" Mr Shalaan's comments.
"Such comments show that the Iraqi defence minister is either inexperienced or he is trying to mimic American and Israeli officials," state television quoted him as saying.
Iran has cautiously welcomed Iraq's new interim government as a step towards full Iraqi sovereignty and routinely denies US and Iraqi charges of meddling in its western neighbour.
An Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman said Iran had no further news on the fate of Iran's consul to Kerbala, Mr Fereidoun Jahani, who was kidnapped last Wednesday.
Mr Jahani's captors have issued a statement accusing him of inciting sectarian violence in Iraq.