Tehran - Iran said Monday it supports the government of Iraq's Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki in confronting armed groups.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad-Ali Hosseini said in a press briefing in Tehran that Iran has always been in favour of peace and stability in Iraq, adding that illegal armed groups in Iraq should be confronted.

Following an Iraqi delegation's visit last week to Tehran and talks with Iranian officials on concerns that Iran was arming and funding militias in Iraq, an Iraqi spokesman said Sunday that there was no evidence for the charges.

Hosseini had played down the Iraqi delegation visit and termed it as solely a bilateral effort aimed at settling ongoing differences and clashes in Iraq and in line with Tehran's policy to restore stability and security in its neighbour.

While blaming the presence of foreign troops as the main problem in Iraq, Hosseini said Iran will continue using all its capacity to help the Iraqi government and nation.

Shiite Iran has several times categorically rejected Iraqi and US charges of intervening in Iraqi affairs, especially for Shiites in southern Iraq, and stressed that the country would regard Iraqi security as it does its own. (dpa)