"Iran vehemently denies shelling northern Iraq. Tehran has previously and officially replied to these allegations," Vice Foreign Minister Mehdi Mostafavi was quoted as saying.

Iraqi Kurdish officials have claimed that hundreds of Iraqi Kurds have fled remote mountain villages near the country's eastern frontier as Iranian gunners target separatist guerrilla bases.

Villagers in the area have said that the region shelters fighters from the banned Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), a rebel group mainly active in neighbouring Turkey.

Iran's West Azarbaijan province, which borders northern Iraq, is the scene of regular deadly clashes between Iranian security forces and Pejak, a militant Kurdish separatist group linked to Turkey's outlawed PKK.

"We are facing problems with armed groups who are acting against the interest of the Iranian, Turkish and Iraqi nations," Mostafavi said.

He added that "to solve these problems Tehran and Baghdad have a joint border committee and it is active."

Iran is bound by treaty with Turkey to fight the PKK. In return, Turkey has pledged to fight Iran's main armed opposition group, the Iraq-based People's Mujahedeen.

Turkey has praised Iran's efforts to crack down on Kurdish rebels linked to the PKK, who have been waging a deadly armed struggle for self-rule in the southeast of Turkey since 1984.