Iran extended condolences on Wednesday over the deaths of hundreds of Iraqis in a stampede in Baghdad, the semi-official Mehr news agency reported.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid-Reza Asefi voiced condolences of the Iranian nation and government to the Iraqi nation and government, the report said.

Asefi also stressed that "suspicious hands" were behind the tragedy with an aim to create "tension and bloodshed" between various ethnic groups of Iraq.

"Iraqi people should practice vigilance and solidarity to neutralize this conspiracy," the spokesman added.

The remarks by Iran coincided with those by Iraqi Interior Minister Bayan Jabor, who blamed a "terrorist" for spreading rumour that there was a suicide bomber among the crowd, causing the tragic stampede.

"What happened is that people started pushing and crushing after one terrorist spread rumour that there was a suicide bomber in the crowd," Jabor told television.

However, Iraqi Defence Minister Saadoun al-Dulaimi ruled out that Wednesday's stampede was related to sectarian tensions.

At least 841 people were killed and 323 others injured after a fake suicide bomb alarm triggered stampede on a bridge over the Tigris river in Baghdad earlier in the day, the deadliest incident since the US-led forces launched attacks on Iraq in March 2003.

Source: Xinhua