TEHRAN – Defense Minister Ahmad Vahidi rejected on Wednesday media reports that the U.S. plans to deploy troops along Iraqi Kurdistan’s borders with Iran.

Certain media outlets have claimed that Washington plans to deploy forces along Iran-Iraqi Kurdistan border areas to stop the ongoing clashes between Iranian security forces and PJAK.

“Iran protects the security of its borders and such remarks are not true,” Vahidi stated.

“We have asked neighboring countries to make efforts to defend their borders so that terrorist groups cannot use their borders and threaten the security of Iranian people,” Vahidi added.

Terrorists are taking advantage of Iran’s northwestern borders with Iraq and this is Iran’s right to control borders to ensure the security of people and deal with terrorists, Vahidi stated.

“Nobody can prevent the Islamic Republic of Iran from maintaining security for its citizens,” he observed.

Over the recent weeks clashes between Iranian military troops and PJAK, an offshoot of the internationally-recognized terrorist group PKK, have mounted.

PJAK uses Iraqi Kurdistan’s soil as a safe haven for its terrorist acts in border areas. 

The PJAK group was established in 2003. Camps and bases of the group are mostly located in Iraq near the border with Iran.