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Mottaki: Foreigners attempting to create discord among Iraqi sects

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

Tehran, Sept 7, IRNA
Iran-Iraq-Meet
Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said here Wednesday that recent developments in Iraq point to the involvement of foreign forces in trying to create discord among the various Iraqi tribes and religious sects.

At a meeting with the visiting Iraqi Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Rafi al-Issawi, he stressed that Tehran believes that insecurity in Iraq has repercussions on the entire region.

Regional states have a major role to play in the establishment of peace and stability in the region, he said, adding that they can also pave the way for withdrawal of foreign forces from occupied Iraq.

He said the Islamic Republic of Iran has good intentions for Iraq and that Iranian policies favor good relations between Iraq and its neighboring countries.

The Iranian foreign minister further said his country was kee to expand bilateral cooperation with Iran, adding that the opening of Iranian consulates in Karbala and Basra will help boost
Tehran-Baghdad ties.

Referring to the two countries' increasing cooperation, Mottaki said the holding of joint commission meetings and implementation of agreements already signed, in particular the supply of electricity and oil products to Iraq, as well as settlement of problems facing Iranian pilgrims in Iraq can lead to strengthening of bilateral ties between Iran and Iraq.

The Iraqi minister, alluding to religious and cultural affinities of the two nations, said the Iraqi nation had a great desire to strengthen ties with Iran.

Baghdad is eyeing opening of consulates in the Iranian cities of Khorramshahr and Mashhad, he disclosed.

He lauded the great efforts of the Iranian government in helping establish a popular government in Iraq.

He reiterated his government's assurance that it will not let its territories be used as base for launching acts harmful to the interests of the Islamic Republic of Iran or endangering
its territorial integrity.

A-Issawi is part of a high-ranking Iraqi delegation headed by Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs Berham Salih which arrived here on Tuesday.

Iran and Iraq fought a bloody war from 1980-88 but relations have warmed since the fall of Saddam Hussein and after Shiites gained an upper hand in the newly established government of the country.

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