Global Courant 2023-04-30 01:27:46
Iran’s Supreme Leader Meets Iraqi President, Says Recent Security And Economic Agreements Should Be Fully Implemented
Tehran, Iran – Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has told Iraqi President Abdul Latif Rashid that the presence of “even one American in Iraq is too much.”
The two met in Tehran on Saturday during Rashid’s first visit to Iran as head of state since his election last October.
Rashid also met with President Ebrahim Raisi and Speaker of Parliament Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf.
“The Americans are not friends of Iraq,” Khamenei said on his official website. “The Americans have no friendships with anyone and are not even loyal to their European friends.”
In addition to his emphasis on expelling the United States from the neighboring country, the Supreme Leader also stressed that Iran considers Iraq’s progress to be of great importance to Iran and said that the bilateral security and economic agreements signed last month should be fully implemented. executed.
There are strong enemies for expanding and deepening Iran-Iraq relations, and if it were not for solid historical and faith-based ties between the two countries, the state of relations might revert to the era of Saddam. Hussein),” he said. said of the late Iraqi president who invaded Iran shortly after the 1979 revolution.
Rashid reportedly said his government will try to strengthen ties with Iran and resolve disputes.
Earlier in the day, the Iraqi president was officially received by Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi at Tehran’s Saadabad Palace, where the two held talks and then held a joint press conference.
Rashid said Iraq will not forget Iran’s support in difficult times over the past few decades, and said the two countries should also pay attention to the issues of water rights and combating drug smuggling in the region.
The Iraqi president also welcomed the agreement between Iran and Saudi Arabia to restore diplomatic relations, saying it will “strengthen stability and security in the region”.
For his part, Raisi said that neighbors will continue to cooperate on energy transportation, and that “Iran-Iraq economic relations will continue (grow) until the needs of both sides are fully met.”
In late November, Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani became the first senior official of the current government to visit Tehran. He also met Khemenei and Raisi.
At the time, the Supreme Leader had questioned him on security issues, particularly Baghdad’s plans to ensure that its borders would not be used by those in Kurdish-majority areas to undermine security on Iranian soil.
Last year, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) used rockets, drones and artillery numerous times to raid positions in northern Iraq held by Kurdish groups that Tehran considers “terrorist” groups.
Most of the raids came after protests broke out across Iran in September following the death in custody of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Kurdish woman.
Iranian authorities said at the time that separatist Kurdish groups — reportedly backed by Western powers — were smuggling weapons out of Iraq and conducting operations in Iran.
