Iran on Wednesday once again rejected media reports alleging that it has supplied Iraq with weapons and fighter jets, and expressed the hope that Iraqi groups agree to form a new government and strengthen unity against terrorist groups, Fars News Agency reported.
"Iran has sent no weapons or fighter jets to Iraq," Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Marziyeh Afkham told reporters in Tehran on Wednesday.
She voiced concern about the situation in Iraq, and said, "We are sure that none of the Iraqi people will allow the country's disintegration."
Afkham called on all Iraqi groups and streams to form a new government as soon as possible and also accelerate efforts to fight terrorism to end the activities of the terrorist groups in their country.
Senior Iranian officials have repeatedly dismissed the media reports that the country has dispatched Sukhoi fighter jets to Iraq to help the country's combat on terrorist groups.
"The Iraqis have not yet made any demands from the Islamic Republic of Iran for arms shipments; of course if they ask for it, we will certainly consider their request positively," Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian said on Sunday.
He said that Russia has sent a number of Sukhoi fighter jets to Iraq "but the Islamic Republic of Iran has not sent any weapons or fighter jets to Iraq".
Amir Abdollahian also dismissed certain media claims that Commander of Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Quds Force General Qassem Soleimani is in Iraq to help the country in its war on terrorists.
"The claims regarding the presence of General Soleimani in Iraq are not confirmed by us and we reject the report," he added.
Meantime, Amir Abdollahian said Iran is providing Iraqi officials with consultations on fighting terrorism, but through diplomatic channels.
The Wall Street Journal in a report in June claimed that Tehran has sent two elite units of its IRGC to Iraq to fight against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) terrorists - an Al-Qaeda offshoot.
Also other western media alleged that General Soleimani has traveled to Iraq to consult with the Iraqi officials on fighting terrorism.