Iraq-Iran ties developing
IRAN: Relations between Iraq and Iran are developing in a number of
ways, Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said during a visit to Iran on
Saturday.
“The exchange of high ranking visits between the two country’s
officials shows that the bilateral relations are developing in different
areas,” Maliki said after a meeting with Iran’s first vice-president,
Parviz Davoudi, according to the Iraqi leader’s office.
Maliki, who arrived on Saturday for a two-day visit, also met Iranian
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
In the meeting, Ahmadinejad prioritised “regional cooperation to
establish security in the region,” state television website reported.
“Our Islamic and humane duty requires that we always stand by the
Iraqi nation,” he was quoted as saying.
The Iranian president also said that the two countries can “rapidly
boost relations and bilateral trade with the wisdom and will of their
leaders.”
Maliki is also scheduled to meet with Foreign Minister Manouchehr
Mottaki.
Ministerial members of Maliki’s delegation immediately went into
talks with their Iranian commerce, power and transportation
counterparts, the official IRNA news agency said.
The two sides agreed to boost bilateral trade from the current level
of about five billion dollars, with Maliki urging greater Iranian
investment for his war-battered country.
“After elevating security and freeing Iraq from sectarian fighting,
it is time to work hard to reconstruct the country and there is a need
for companies from neighbouring nations to take on reconstruction
projects,” Maliki said.
Iran and Shiite-majority Iraq waged a war between 1980 and 1988 in
which around one million people died but ties have warmed considerably
since the overthrow of Saddam Hussein’s Sunni-dominated regime in 2003
by US-led forces.
Maliki’s fourth visit to Iran since he took office in 2006 is his
first since the December 14 signing of a bilateral security agreement
for US troops to remain in Iraq until the end of 2011 — a deal that
irked Tehran.
The Iraqi premier’s trip was initially scheduled for late December.
Tehran, Sunday, AFP
|
