BAGHDAD, (Reuters) – Iraq demanded yesterday that  Iran immediately withdraw its soldiers from a disputed oilfield  on the two countries’ border, but Tehran denied any incursion.
Iraqi government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said 11 Iranian  soldiers had taken control of the Fakka oilfield in a remote  desert area of southeastern Iraq, in a “violation of Iraqi  sovereignty”.
“Iraq demands the immediate withdrawal from well No. 4 and  the Fakka oilfield, which belongs to Iraq. Iraq is looking for a  peaceful and diplomatic settlement to this issue,” he said.
Dabbagh did not give a deadline for withdrawal and did not  say what Iraq would do if Iran failed to comply. Officials have  summoned Tehran’s envoy in Iraq to discuss the matter, he said.
Iraqi officials said the Iranian soldiers crossed into Iraqi  territory yesterday and raised the Iranian flag at Fakka, whose  ownership is disputed by Iran.

Iraqi Deputy Interior Minister Ahmed Ali al-Khafaji said the  incursion was the latest of several this week at the field, some  300 km (185 miles) southeast of Baghdad in Maysan province.