First cable of congratulations since 1980 from Iranian President to Iraqi President
Iraq-Iran, Politics, 1/1/1998

The Iraqi news agency said Iraqi President Saddam Hussein received on Wednesday a cable of congratulations from his Iranian counterpart Muhammad Khatami on the occasion of the fasting month of Ramadan, broadcast by Baghdad's radio and TV in news bulletins.

This is the first cable of congratulations the Iraqi President has received from an Iranian President since the beginning of the Iraqi-Iranian war in 1980. In his cable, Khatami congratulated the Iraqi people and president and expressed his "best wishes for Muslims' welfare appealing to the Almighty God to help us achieve peace and prosperity for all." Khatami, who assumed office last August, has called for improving relations between Iran and its Arab neighbors.

Saddam had sent a message to President Khatami dealing with bilateral relations, through his Vice-President Taha Yassin Ramadan during his participation in the Islamic summit held in Tehran by the beginning of December 1997. However, the normalization process between Iran and Iraq is impeded by the problems of prisoners of war and the dispute over the Iraqi war and civilian planes which fled to Iran during the Gulf War in 1991.

For the first time since the war between the two countries the Iraqi President received on June 21 an Iranian envoy from then-Iranian President Hashami Rafsanjani inviting him to attend the OIC Summit conference, SANA reported.

Previous Stories:
  A new page in Iraqi - Iranian relations   (12/12/1997)
  Baghdad between the hammer of Turkey and the hatchet of Iran   (10/18/1997)
  Saddam: peace with Iran and others with sword at hand   (9/29/1997)

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