Bomb found at Iraqi envoy home in Tehran

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iraq's ambassador to Tehran told media on Wednesday a bomb had been found in front of his residence on Tuesday, but Iran's official IRNA news agency said there was no evidence of an explosive device.

Iraqi Ambassador Mohammed Majid al-Sheikh was quoted by al Arabiya television as saying the bomb had been planted as a "terrorist act" aimed at harming ties between Iran and Iraq.

The semi-official Iranian news agency Fars said the package was later defused.

"After the police came, it became clear that the package contained a bomb and quickly the street leading to the residence was blocked and all the necessary actions started," the ambassador told Fars.

However, IRNA on Wednesday quoted an informed source at Iran's Foreign Ministry as saying the package had not been a bomb.

"Based on expert studies by those in charge, the suspicious package did not contain any dangerous materials and it was a package which contained ordinary things."

The Iraqi embassy was not immediately available for comment.

The ambassador told al Arabiya television the embassy had not received any threat. But, he added, "of course this is a terrorist act which aims to prevent a developed relationship between Iraq and the Islamic Republic".

He noted it happened just one day after Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki left Tehran after a three-day official visit to the neighbouring country.