Iraqi leaders reacted angrily on Sunday to claims by Hosni Mubarak, the Egyptian leader, that Iraq’s Shia majority was loyal to Iran, a controversy that underlines how the Iraq conflict is heightening Sunni-Shia tensions across the Middle East.

Hoshyar Zebari, the Iraqi foreign minister, told the FT the Shia community had been “infuriated” by the comments and that he had demanded an explanation from the Egyptian foreign ministry. “There has to be damage limitation,” he said.