Iraq have been banned from competing at the Olympic Games in Beijing.

Seven Iraqi athletes had hoped to travel to China, but in a letter dated July 23 and addressed to Jassem Jaafar, the Iraqi Youth and Sports Minister, the IOC said it was moving ahead with a ban first imposed on the country's athletes last month.

"In spite of all the joint efforts of IOC and OCA (Olympic Council of Asia), over the last months to find a positive solution with the Iraqi government authorities, we regretfully inform you that the decision of the IOC executive board dated 4 June 2008 to suspend the National Olympic Committee of Iraq is confirmed," the letter from the IOC said. "We deeply regret this outcome which severely harms the Iraqi Olympic and Sports Movement and the Iraqi athletes but which is unfortunately imposed by the circumstances."

The IOC suspended Iraq for "political interference" in its national Olympic committee which was sacked in May and replaced by a new panel headed by Jaafar. It had warned that sanctions could be imposed after the committee and other sports bodies were disbanded.

After the initial suspension it was believed that up to seven Iraqi athletes would still participate in the Games beginning on August 8. However, the IOC made clear in the letter that an opportunity for Iraqi athletes to compete under the Olympic flag instead of the national flag was now over.

"The quota places obtained through the qualification systems and the invitation places offered by the Tripartite Commission to Iraqi athletes have been withdrawn and re-allocated to other NCOs," the IOC said.

Bashar Mustafa, Iraq's temporary national Olympic committee deputy chief, expressed disappointment at the IOC ruling, but said he had done his best to redress the matters of concern to the international body. "We have made great efforts recently to put this crisis behind us and move forward," he said Mustafa. "Those who misled the government and gave incorrect information to the Iraqi government will be beholden to history - they will be the responsible for denying Iraqi athletes the chance to participate internationally."

The IOC did not identify in its letter which issues Iraq had failed to tackle, saying only that they remained unresolved. "Unfortunately, this letter does not respond to our request as clearly expressed in our communication dated 17 July 2008, and the deadline set for 21 July 2008 has now passed," it said.

The Iraqi government had said that the previous Olympic committee was sacked because of "solid evidence of blatant corruption, lack of legitimate transparent electoral processes and accountability." It said the committee had an insufficient quorum and had failed to hold elections in more than five years.

The ruling capped a host of Iraqi sporting problems that began after the head of its Olympic committee, Ahmed Al-Samarrai, was kidnapped in July 2006. He has not been heard of since.

Fifa, football's world football governing body, also suspended the Iraqi football federation over the issue but rescinded its decision in late May when Baghdad said the suspension of sports bodies did not extend to football.