Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi said Saturday that the presence of the United States jeopardizes the security of the region, while welcoming his Iraqi counterpart to Tehran.
Sworn enemies for decades, Washington and Tehran have been vying for influence in Iraq since the 2003 invasion by the United States that toppled dictator Saddam Hussein.
“We do not consider the presence of foreign forces and foreigners in the region to be useful,” Raisi said during a joint press conference in Tehran with Iraqi President Abdel Latif Rashid.
“The presence of the United States disrupts the security of the region”, lambasted the Iranian president. “Our relations with Iraq are based on common interests” while “the Americans think of their interests and not those of the countries of the region”, he added.
Although Iraq and Iran fought an eight-year war in the 1980s, relations between the two predominantly Shiite neighbors calmed down considerably after the fall of Saddam Hussein and his Sunni-dominated regime.
Iraq has become a key economic pillar for the Islamic Republic hit by Western sanctions, while Tehran supplies Baghdad with gas and electricity as well as everyday consumer goods.
“The relations between Iran and Iraq will continue in the field of hydraulic and electric infrastructures”, declared the Iranian president. A “security agreement has been established between the two countries”, the security of Iraq and its borders being “very important to us”, he added.
Both countries helped defeat the Islamic State group in Iraq, and the United States still has 2,500 troops in the country.
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