Iraqi VP blames foreign intervention for enmity with Iran
Iraq-Iran, Politics, 3/13/2007

Iran's Chairman of the Expediency Council Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani said today that ""We should not welcome disputes mainly between Shiites and Sunni Muslims which the enemies need such a conflict," in remarks with his meeting with the Iraqi Vice-President Tareq al-Hashimi.

Rafsanjani said Iraq is in dire need of national unity and its people, religious and ethnic groups should not confront one another.

He underlined that Iraq needs unity among its political, ethnic and religious groups. Under the auspices of Islam, Iraq would be free, developed and independent, he said.

Iran is ready to transfer its experience to the Iraqi government, he said adding that after restoration of security in Iraq, the country should focused on reconstruction and help remove vital necessities of its people.

The Iraqi vice president, for his part, said Islam is the corner stone of Iraq development which requires collective cooperation of all political, ethnic and religious groups in Iraq.

The current political and security issues in Iraq should be resolved through sincere assistance of intellectuals and religious leaders, he underlined.

The Iraqi official, who came to Iran after a four-day visit to Syria, held talks with senior Iranian officials.

The vice-president, who is one of leaders of Iraqi Al-Tawafoq Front, arrived in Tehran on Sunday night.

Abdullah, one of members of Al-Tawafoq parliamentary faction, told Al-Alam network, "The problems of Iraq are complicated and multifaceted, thus, all parties need to cooperate to settle the problems." The Iraqi legislator added that the vice-president holds talks with Iranian officials on mutual ties and issues of the front in Tehran.

"We urged the envoys, who participated in Baghdad Conference on March 10, to exercise sense of responsibility to help resolve the Iraqi crisis," he said.

Al-Tawafoq Front and other Iraqi political parties are committed to major principles including national sovereignty and solidarity and establishment of friendly ties with neighboring countries, he added.

Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadi-Nejad said Iran supports security and stability in Iraq adding a united, strong, independent, free and progressive Iraq benefits all regional nations and the Islamic ummah.

Ahmadi-Nejad who received al-Hashemi on Monday said, "We are concerned about current security situation in Iraq more than anybody else." He said strong and united Iran and Iraq are like a concrete dam in front of enemies' conspiracies adding the enemies, through an organized plan, are trying to cause disunity and ethnic, religious conflicts in Iraq and are using instability and conflicts as pretexts for continuation of their presence there.

Al-Hashemi, for his part, appreciated Iran's humanitarian, principled and just stances concerning solution of the Islamic world problems, especially those of Iraq, and said, "We believe the current difficult situation in Iraq could be solved through cooperation of neighboring countries, especially by Iran's active role, while those countries which are alien to Iraqi culture cannot settle the problems and only double them by continuation of occupation." He expressed hope that by relying on Iran's regional and international power and cooperation of other neighboring countries, Iraq can witness stability and tranquility again.

Al-Hashemi said Sunday that Iraqi government looks forward to establishment of proper relations with Iran. Urging the need to lay the cornerstone for new relations to compensate for the past, Iran's Vice President Davoudi said, "We believe that Iraq can benefit from Iran's present status and significance at the regional and international levels.

"Many suitable opportunities have been lost by the two sides, which should have been used by the two nations towards development and welfare of both countries." For his part, Al-Hashemi said that unfortunately, the intervention of foreign powers resulted in enmity between the two countries.

Previous Stories:
  Talks with US not on Iran's agenda at present   (3/6/2007)
  Al-Hakim rejects US claims on Iranian interference in Iraq   (2/26/2007)
  Al-Sadr not in Iran, says FM spokesman   (2/21/2007)

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