TEHRAN – Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid-Reza Asefi rejected on Tuesday reports that Iran has arrested a number of Iraqi coastguards on the Iran-Iraq tidal frontier.

Asefi noted that Iran-Iraq borders enjoy relative security, adding that the two countries have established good ties in this regard.

Iraqi officials on Tuesday accused Iranian forces of "kidnapping" a coastguard patrol after a clash on the border along the Shatt al-Arab estuary and demanded the men's release, Reuters reported.

Iran's embassy in Baghdad denied all knowledge of the incident, which Iraqi officials, in confusing statements, said happened on Saturday or Sunday and involved about nine coastguards.