ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq - Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei on Sunday stated that Tehran “carefully monitored” the Iraqi elections while respecting the country’s internal affairs.

“During Iraq's elections, from the beginning, we carefully monitored the matter with full respect for the fact that this is an internal process related to the Iraqi people,” Baghaei said during a presser.

Earlier in November, Baghdad slammed the spokesperson’s statements condemning American “interference” in the electoral process, calling it “provocative and a clear and unacceptable interference in Iraq's internal affairs.”

The Iraqi government emphasized that the election process “is a purely national matter” and exclusively concerns “the will of the Iraqi people and their constitutional institutions.”

The spokesperson added that Baghdad’s “stability, security, and peace in Iraq ensure our interests and ensure regional security,” which he linked to the country’s continued “interactions with the Iraqi government.”

The US has in recent months increased efforts to curb Iran’s influence on Iraq, including imposing sanctions on several Iraqi bank executives and the Muhandis General Company over allegations of funding the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and affiliated groups in Iraq.

Furthermore, Chaldean-American Mark Savaya, the newly-appointed US special envoy to Iraq, has underscored Washington's desire to clamp down on the activities of pro-Iran groups in the country.

Tehran routinely denies exerting control over Baghdad, claiming that the Iraqi state operates independently of its influence and their relations are limited to “neighborly” cooperation and shared interests.

Iraq concluded its sixth parliamentary elections on November 11, in which nearly 7,750 candidates competed for the Iraqi legislature’s 329 seats.