An senior Iranian diplomat has been shot dead while driving his car in Baghdad today.

Khalil Naimi, the first secretary in Iraq, was travelling to the Iranian embassy when his car was raked with gunfire.

Two bullets pierced the windshield and eight holes were visible in the driver's door. The vehicle had diplomatic licence plates, but no symbols on it suggesting that it was Iranian.

Hossein Sadeghi, the head of an Iranian delegation visiting Iraq said today that the assassination was “most certainly” linked to his mission to defuse a stand-off between coalition forces and Hojatoleslam Moqtada al-Sadr, the radical Shia Muslim cleric.

Mr Sadeghi, the Iranian foreign ministry's director for Gulf affairs, held talks with Hojatoleslam al-Sadr in Najaf today. He met Massoud Barzani, president of the Iraqi Governing Council, last night.

Mr Sadeghi said of Mr Naimi's killing: "Such savage moves are condemned and deplored by the Islamic Republic of Iran."

Asked if the killing would cut short the delegation's mission, Mr Sadeghi said that he was awaiting instructions from Tehran.

The US had requested help from Iran in the crisis which has seen militiamen loyal to Hojatoleslam al-Sadr take control of several cities after battling coalition troops.

Coalition troops had previously promised not to enter the holy city of Najaf, but 2,500 US troops are massed on the outskirts.

The coalition has vowed to capture or kill the cleric, who is wanted on an Iraqi arrest warrant for the murder of a rival.

Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Husseini al-Sistani, Iraq's top Shia Muslim cleric, has persuaded Hojatoleslam al-Sadr to drop defiant demands that he had put forward to Iraqi politicians mediating the stand-off.

But militiamen appeared to be preparing for a fight today, moving into buildings and onto rooftops on Najaf's outskirts, according to Colonel Dana Pittard, head of the 2,500 US troops outside the city.

"Najaf is a holy place," said Kaysal Hazali, a spokesman for Hojatoleslam al-Sadr. "If they [the Americans] attack it, God knows the results: It is not going to be good for the occupation."

Fighting continues

Three Iraqis were killed and two others wounded in a US bombardment near Baquba, north of Baghdad. One US soldier died and five others were wounded in two separate roadside bombings near Samarra, north of Baghdad, the US military said.

In the besieged city of Fallujah, US warplanes struck guerrillas early this morning, the latest in nightly fighting that has strained a four-day truce called to allow Iraqi negotiators to try to end the violence.

US Marines and insurgents have been digging into their positions in houses inside the city, preparing for the possible complete collapse of the ceasefire.

At least 89 US soldiers have been killed this month - making it the deadliest month ever for Americans in Iraq. More than 900 Iraqis have been killed, the most since the fall of Saddam Hussein.

Times Recommends

• Please help: maimed children of war want their lives back
• Cabal seizes diamond riches to buy power
• White House gatecrashers got to the president