Iraq denies report on ceasefire mediation between US, Iran

Iraq on Friday denied a media report that said Baghdad was mediating efforts to secure a ceasefire between Washington and Tehran.

In a statement carried by the Iraqi News Agency (INA), the Iraqi prime minister's media office said the "claims" in the New York Times report, published Thursday were "completely baseless and had no connection to reality."

It urged media outlets "to verify information, rely on official sources and refrain from circulating unsubstantiated reports or claims attributed to anonymous sources."

Citing Iranian and Iraqi officials familiar with the matter, the newspaper reported that Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi conveyed the proposal during a visit to Tehran after meeting with US President Donald Trump at the White House.

The report said details of the proposal were unclear, but Iranian officials described it as the only proposal currently on the table.

Tehran rejected the proposal, the officials reportedly said, because it did not address the issue of control over the Strait of Hormuz.

Regional tensions have escalated over the past two weeks after Trump announced on July 8 that the ceasefire outlined in last month's US-Iran memorandum of understanding was no longer in effect.

Since then, the US and Iran have exchanged strikes, with Washington targeting sites inside Iran while Tehran says it has attacked US military facilities and equipment across several countries in the region.

The confrontation has disrupted shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, threatened global energy supplies and prompted intermittent airspace closures, along with growing warnings of attacks on US facilities and interests beyond the Middle East.