Tasnim � Iran�s ambassador to Baghdad dismissed the allegation made by a senior US diplomat that the Islamic Republic is meddling in the internal affairs of Iraq.

�... Iraq is an independent country and does not need interference from anyone,� Iran�s Ambassador to Iraq Iraj Masjedi said in a tweet.

He was reacting to US Assistant State Secretary of Near Eastern Affairs David Schenker who has accused Iran of interference in the domestic affairs of Iraq.

�Instead of telling such lies, the US had better end its policies that are based on threat, sanction and terror,� the Iranian ambassador added.

Masjedi further condemned a �brutal� Daesh attack that resulted in the martyrdom of a number of Hashd al-Shaabi (PMU) forces in Iraq, and expressed sympathy with the Iraqi people and government.

At least ten members of Hashd al-Shaabi forces were killed in the attack carried out by the Daesh terror group in the Arab country�s Salahuddin province.

Daesh has intensified its attacks in Iraq amid Baghdad�s call on the US to pull out its forces from the Arab country.

In a vote on January 5, the Iraqi parliament called for an end to the presence of all foreign troops, including Americans.

The vote came two days after the US military - acting on US President Donald Trump�s order - launched a fatal drone strike on senior Iranian anti-terror commander Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani upon his arrival in the Iraqi capital at the invitation of the Baghdad government.

The attack also claimed the lives of Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the second-in-command of the PMU, and eight other Iranian and Iraqi people.

Washington has threatened sanctions should US troops be expelled instead of heeding the Iraqi parliament�s call to end the occupation of the country.