TEHRAN, Feb 6 (AFP) - Iran moved Sunday to deny any role or responsibility in the death of Georgian prime minister Zurab Zhvania, killed by carbon monoxide fumes from a heater made in the Islamic republic.

"Many such heaters were exported to Georgia, and many are being used in Iran. But nobody has ever died," insisted foreign ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi. He said reports on the circumstances of the death "indicate a faulty installation".

"Of course we feel sorry over the death of the Georgian prime minister, and we have sent a message of condolence," Asefi said. "It was a sad accident. We have good relations with Georgia and we were truly saddened."

The 41-year-old prime minister, who was due to be buried later Sunday, was found by his bodyguards slumped over a table in an apartment on the outskirts of Tbilisi early Thursday -- sending shock waves through the former Soviet republic.

He appeared to have succumbed to carbon monoxide fumes from an inadequately ventilated room heater -- manufactured by the Nik-Kala heater factory in Karaj, a satellite city of Tehran.

Also denying any responsibility was Ali Soleimani, Nik-Kala's managing director.

"Not only the Georgians but most residents of the new republics do not have the culture of using gas heaters," Soleimani told the Shargh newspaper.