Tehran says al-Sadr isn't in Iran (file photo) (epa)
February 18, 2007 -- Iran today for the first time formally denied claims by Iraqi and U.S. officials that radical Shi'ite Iraqi cleric Muqtada al-Sadr is in the Islamic republic.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini said the claims were part of "the propaganda and psychological warfare led by the United States in Iraq to impose pressure on Iran and it has no basis."
Iraqi and U.S. officials say that the cleric, leader of the Al-Mahdi Army militia, left for Tehran in January.
(AFP)