TEHRAN —
Tehran and Baghdad Tuesday
identified fighting “terrorism”, maintaining mutual security and extending
economic cooperation as key priorities during the new Iraqi prime minister’s
first official visit to Iran.
اضافة اعلان
Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani was received by President
Ebrahim Raisi, who expressed hopes of bolstering ties that have lately been hit
by tensions over Iran carrying out cross-border strikes against exiled
opposition groups.
Sudani came to power last month, after a year-long
tussle between political factions over forming a government following an
October 2021 general election.
“From our perspective and that of the Iraqi
government, security, peace, cooperation, and regional stability are very
important,” Raisi told a joint press conference.
“As a result, the
fight against terrorist groups, organized crime, drugs, and other insecurity
that threaten the region depends on the common will of our two nations,” he
said.
Sudani said that “our government is determined not
to allow any group or party to use Iraqi territory to undermine and disrupt
Iran’s security.”
Since nationwide protests erupted in Iran more than
two months ago, Iranian officials have accused
Kurdish opposition groups exiled
in northern Iraq of stoking the unrest and the Islamic republic has repeatedly
launched deadly cross-border strikes.
Such strikes — targeting Iranian-Kurdish groups in
Iraq’s autonomous Kurdistan region — resumed this month, even after Iraq’s
federal government summoned Iran’s ambassador in late September to complain
about cross-border missile and drone hits that killed at least seven
people.
Iraq has announced in the past week that it will
redeploy federal guards on the border between Iraqi Kurdistan and Iran, rather
than leaving the responsibility to Kurdish peshmerga forces — a move welcomed
by Tehran.
Sudani added that the two countries’ national
security advisers would hold consultations to “establish a working mechanism
for on-the-ground coordination to avoid any escalation”.
Sudani also thanked Iran for its continued
deliveries of gas and electricity, which have been in short supply in Iraq,
while he also pointed to discussions on a “mechanism” to enable Iraq to pay
Iran for these services.
Raisi said banking, finance and wider business
topics were also discussed and that talks between the two allies “will help to
resolve bilateral problems”.
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