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Interior minister urges UN to play greater role in Iraq

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

Tehran, April 4, IRNA -- Iranian Interior Minister Abdolvahed Moussav 
Lari here Sunday called on the United Nations to play a greater role 
in Iraq. 
"We believe the United Nations should play a greater role in Iraq 
so as to enable the Iraqi nation to exercise their legitimate rights, 
one of which is the right to determine their own fate," Lari said in a
meeting with his Iraqi counterpart, Nori Badran. 
"The return of security and stability in Iraq would be in the 
interest of all regional states and it is our hope that the current 
situation there would change for the better in terms of security and 
stability," the Iranian minister added. 
Lari stressed the need to control the illegal migration of 
citizens of the two countries and called for ways of facilitating 
migration to each other`s territory. 
He pointed to the countries` cultural, religious and historical 
commonalities and joint borders, and voiced his country`s readiness to
help the Iraqis solve their current difficulties within the framework 
of a united Iraq. 
"Settling issues regarding borders, dispatch of pilgrims, joint 
ventures and establishment of border markets and exhibitions can 
help expand bilateral relations," Lari said. 
He called on the Iranian and Iraqi governments to pay due 
attention to the needs of their citizens and said the ground should 
be paved for both sides` pilgrims, tradesmen and investors to work 
efficiently. 
Lari noted that Iran has greatly suffered from the transit of 
illegal drugs, goods, human beings and arms. 
Badran, for his part, said the Iranian and Iraqi nations would 
not let their governments rest if these do not do their best to 
raise the quality of their lives. 
He pointed to recent measures implemented by the Iraqi Governing 
Council to fight terrorism and organized crime, facilitate pilgrimages
and establish border free trade zones, and called for the setting up 
of a joint working group by the two governments to expand relations. 
Iraqi Interior Minister Nori Badran, heading a political and 
security delegation, arrived here Saturday night for a four-day visit 
to discuss border security issues between the two neighbors as well as
the issue of Iranian pilgrimages to holy sites in Iraq. 
The border security issue confronting Tehran and Baghdad has has 
been aggravated following the ouster of former Iraqi dictator Saddam 
Hussein in a US-led invasion that has installed a US-controlled 
government. 
Iran has about 1,500 kilometers of joint borders with Iraq which 
Tehran declared closed following the deadly bombings in Baghdad and 
Karbala in early March in which 171 people were killed and hundreds 
of others injured. 
SF/LS/210 
End