Iran, Iraq resolved to further expand bilateral cooperation

President Raisi said after meeting with Iraqi President Abdul Latif Rashid behind closed doors in Tehran on Saturday that Tehran’s relations with Baghdad were “strategic.”
The session was joined by high-ranking delegations of the two states.

He referred to a security agreement signed between the two countries last year and said, “The smallest insecurity in Iraq would be deemed insecurity in Iran. Iraq’s security matters to Iran,” he said.

He also said the volume of trade between Iran and Iraq was 10 billion dollars, which he said had to further increase.

Raisi said the presence of American forces in the region was harmful to regional security.

“Iran’s relations with Iraq and [other] regional countries are based on a view toward shared interests, whereas America has its own interests in mind,” Raisi said.

He also voiced hope that Rashid’s visit to Iran would be “a turning point” in the enhancement of relations between the two countries.

For his part, the Iraqi president said his visit to Tehran was meant to further promote already-flourishing ties between the two neighbors.

Iran-Iraq relations, he added, are not limited to the ties between government institutions, but they cover all fields since the two nations have a common history, stressing that ties between the two countries remain “unchangeable.”

The Iraqi leader called for efforts to remove the existing obstacles in the way of cooperation with Iran.

He praised the Islamic Republic’s support for Iraq in its campaign against the Daesh Takfiri terror group, which effectively helped Baghdad drive the terrorists out of its territory.

The president also hailed a reconciliation deal between Iran and Saudi Arabia, saying the agreement will contribute to regional security.