Iranian Revolutionary Guard commanders announced on Monday that they had seized control of three militant camps, a claim that was immediately disputed as "incorrect" by Iraqi security officials.

However, local residents and security officers say the Iranian reports are true.

"There was an attack by Iranian Revolutionary Guard units against Pjak bases inside Iraq, and there was fighting between the two sides," an Iraqi security official stationed in the area said. Iraqi forces had not intervened, he said.

"Iranian forces have taken over camps in three areas, and are some two to three kilometres inside Iraqi territory," the official said.

More than a dozen Iranian commandos were killed or injured in heavy fighting, according to the Iraq security source.

A Revolutionary Guards official told Iranian state-run media that one solider was killed and three wounded in the operation, which began on Saturday.

He said many Pjak personnel were killed, including one leader of the group.

Jabbar Yawar, head of the Peshmerga, the military force of the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) out of Irbil, had previously dismissed reports of Iranian military operations inside KRG territory as "incorrect". He said on Monday that the clashes happened inside Iran.