A number of Western and Arab media outlets said Monday that Iran's spiritual leader, Ali Khamenei, and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad sent a message with a mediation request to the Saudi king through the head of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, Ali Larijani, who recently visited the Saudi capital.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini told the Iranian news agency IRNA that "the statements are untrue."
The Iranian information agency Fars, citing an anonymous source in the council, said Larijani did not deliver any message from Iran's leaders.
The long-standing confrontation between the U.S. and Iran deteriorated further January 11 when American servicemen burst into Iran's mission in Erbil (Kurdistan) and detained five officials. American troops disarmed guards and confiscated computers and documents without providing any explanation.
However, the U.S. administration has repeatedly accused Tehran of interfering in Iraq's internal affairs by providing weapons and extremist training to the country's Shiite factions.
