Iraqi Brigadier General Haider al-Harki stated that neither Iraqi security forces nor members of the regional Kurdish Peshmerga formations have crossed the Iranian border since the US-Israeli war in that country began.

Al-Harki, speaking on the Rudaw channel, said Iraqi security forces were deployed in the Kurdish region of Sulaymaniyah in Iraq "to further strengthen control over the border with Iran" in coordination with the autonomous region's government.

Al-Harki's statement came amid growing tensions on the Iran-Iraq border and reports that the US is recruiting Kurds to foment an uprising against the government in Tehran.

However, US President Donald Trump, who spoke to journalists several hours earlier, said the US does not want Kurdish groups to participate in the conflict, because "we don't want to make the war even more complicated than it already is."