Iran deployed on Monday a dozen tanks supported by artillery at the border with Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region, a Kurdish official told Reuters.

The move is believed to be part of joint drills planned by the Iranian and the Iraqi government armed forces in retaliation for an independence referendum held a week ago by Iraq's Kurds.

"The tanks can be seen from the Kurdish side," said the official in the Kurdistan Regional Government capital Erbil.

Iranian state television on Saturday quoted a military spokesman as saying Iran and Iraq "agreed on measures to establish border security and receive Iraqi forces that are to be stationed at border posts."