In his Baghdad visit, Rouhani calls for stronger Iranian-Iraqi ties to counter the US

Tabnak – In his second day of official visit to Iraq, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani held meetings with former Iraqi prime ministers, as well as high-ranking members of the current administration in Baghdad. Rouhani expressed desire for a closer Iranian-Iraqi relationship in order to counter the US pressures.

According to the Iranian media, today Rouhani held meetings with two former prime ministers of Iraq to discuss regional developments and ways to boost the ties between Tehran and Baghdad.

In a meeting with former prime minister of Iraq Haider al-Abadi, Rouhani stressed the need for efforts to promote cooperation among regional nations.

Iran and Iraq play an influential role in the region with some other states, like Turkey, the Iranian president said, adding, “Apart from the bilateral ties, we should try to expand multilateral cooperation among regional countries in various fields such as transit, railroad and the fight against terrorism.”

In another meeting with Abadi’s predecessor, Nouri al-Maliki, the Iranian president said Iran and Iraq have maintained and strengthened cordial ties in the past years. “Iraq’s prominent figures and politicians in any position play an important role in the development, security and stability of this country and Tehran-Baghdad bilateral relations.”

Maliki, for his part, pointed to the Iraqi political parties’ support for growing ties with Iran, saying the two neighbors could broaden relations in various arenas, such as economic cooperation, investment, and regional and international cooperation.

In a separate event, speaking at a meeting of high-ranking delegations of Iran and Iraq, Rouhani said, “Iran-Iraq relations have roots in history and have always been friendly and brotherly.” Stating that the Iranian nation have been alongside the Iraqi nation in hard days, he said, “We consider Iraq’s stability and security as our own stability and security”

“At a time when the United States is seeking to pressurize the Iranian nation with its unjust, illegal sanctions in violation of the regulations of the (UN) Security Council, we need to develop and deepen our relations to stand against them,” he said.

Also on economic issues, the Iranian president voiced the country’s readiness to expand trade ties with Iraq and increase exports to the neighboring state. "We are ready to have our tradespeople more active in Iraq and supply the required goods so that we can reach a good balance," Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said at the Economic-Trade Forum of Iran and Iraq in Baghdad on Monday, his website reported.

Extensive economic and trade cooperation between Iran and Iraq would benefit the both nations and the region, the president stressed, adding, "The two Iranian and Iraqi nations have always been together in recent years in creating security and stability."

Heading a high-ranking delegation, Rouhani arrived in Baghdad on Monday at the official invitation of the Iraqi government. It is Rouhani’s first official visit to Iraq during his tenure.