TEHRAN, Aug 23 (AFP) - Iranian President Mohammad Khatami denied any "provocative interference" in Iraq and any support for radical Shiite militia leader Moqtada Sadr, the official news agency IRNA reported Monday.
"Not only has Iran never had any provocative interference in Iraq, but it has always tried to help implement peace, unity and convergence of groups in Iraq," Khatami told reporters in the shrine to Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the founder of the Islamic republic.
"We have never officially and openly supported any groups in Iraq," he said when asked if Iran supports Moqtada Sadr, but asserted: "even groups whose oppression has been an excuse for these (US) operations (in Najaf) have not committed any provocative acts in this period."
Khatami said there had been no specific contact with the United States over events in Najaf, although "there have been some messages" in the past between Tehran and Washington, which have no diplomatic relations.
Pointing to the recent US attacks on Sadr's militia in Najaf he said: "It is obviously an attempt to intimidate the entire Iraqi nation and to create an atmosphere in which they can impose their will on the fate of the government."
"The Shiite majority in Iraq is under pressure and in this particular case the occupiers and the ones who accompanied them are responsible," he added.
Iraqi Vice President Ibrahim al-Jafari said Saturday he had no evidence of any Iranian support for Moqtada Sadr.
On August 10, State Department deputy spokesman Adam Ereli said the United States was concerned by suggestions that Iran is involved in deadly unrest in Iraq's Shiite holy city of Najaf and maintained it was not in Tehran's interest to foment instability in its neighbor.
The US State Department said Thursday it has no conclusive evidence that Sadr has received arms from Iran, but refused to rule out the possibility.