Tabnak – Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi was on an official visit to the Iranian capital, Tehran on Thursday for talks with the neighboring country’s high-ranking officials on issues of bilateral and regional significance.
The Iraqi premier was officially welcomed by Iranian First Vice-President Es’haq Jahangiri at the Saadabad Cultural and Historical Complex in Tehran on Thursday. He arrived in the Iranian capital on Wednesday following a visit to Turkey.
During his meeting with Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani on Thursday, Abadi said terrorism and terrorist tendencies were a challenge and a threat to everyone, adding that the regional countries needed to put aside their differences and curb the spread of this menace.
"Disputes and conflicts provide conditions for the interference of others in the affairs of the countries of the region and we must take steps to resolve the disagreements and develop cooperation among them," he said, according to IRNA.
For his part, Rouhani told Iraqi prime minister that Iran will continue its support for Baghdad's battle against terrorism and its efforts to boost national unity.
"The Islamic Republic of Iran, in the path of fighting terrorism, strengthening unity and solidarity in Iraq, and preserving the territorial integrity of the country, has always been and will be alongside the Iraqi government and nation," Rouhani said.
Rouhani also stressed Iran's support for the central Iraqi government, saying Baghdad should keep up its battle against secessionist moves, which harm Iraq's national sovereignty and territorial integrity.
Abadi had also a meeting with Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei, in which he stressed Baghdad’s determination to safeguard Iraq’s unity and territorial integrity, noting that the government will never allow the country to be threatened with disintegration.
During the meeting, Ayatollah Khamenei called on Iraq to remain vigilant in the face of American plots, warning that the US is not trustworthy. He also expressed Iran’s support for the Iraqi government’s efforts to develop ties with regional states.
"The Americans created Daesh (ISIS) themselves, but now that the terrorists have been defeated by the Iraqi government and people, they pretend to be supportive of this important development,” the Leader said.
Ayatollah Khamenei underlined the importance of unity among different Iraqi ethnic groups as well as Baghdad’s support for the country’s popular forces as the key reasons behind the recent victories against terrorist groups and their sponsors.
Meeting with Iran’s Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani was another part of Abadi’s schedule in Tehran. According to Larijani, Iraqi people’s battle against terrorists has made them stronger and proved to the world that nobody can take any aggressive action against their country.
Abadi, for his part, said the main factor, which led Iraq to victory, was the unity among all Iraqi people, noting that even the recent crisis in northern Iraq and the secession vote in the Iraqi Kurdistan Region failed to weaken that unity.
It should be noted that over the past three years, the Iraqi army and allied volunteer fighters have been leading a major operation to rid the country of ISIS terrorists. At Baghdad’s request, Iran has been providing military advisory assistance to Iraq in its counter-terrorism campaign.
Iraq recently witnessed simmering tensions over a controversial referendum on the secession of the Kurdistan Region, which was only supported by Israel.
