Iraqi government spokesman, Ali al-Dabbagh, on Monday rejected reports that Baghdad is helping Tehran skirt sanction and underlined that Iraq is committed to its relations with the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Meanwhile another Iraqi official dabbed New York Times’s Sunday report “a big lie”.

The daily’s report that Iraq is selling Iran’s oil is a big line, Prime Minister’s spokesman Ali al- Mousawi said.

“Our deals are clean and clear and we have no secret deals with Iran,” Mousawi said.

Using a network of financial institutions and oil-smuggling operations, Iraq has been helping Iran skirt economic sanctions from 2003, the New York Times said on Saturday.

In some case, Iraqi government officials are turning a blind eye to trade with Iran, while other officials in Baghdad are directly profiting from the activities - with several of them having close ties to Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, the Times said.