Iran Press/ Iran news: Iraq's National Security Adviser Qasim al-Araji and other high-ranking Iraqi officials are accompanying Fuad Hussein on the trip.
During his visit to Tehran, the Iraqi Foreign Minister was scheduled to meet with Iranian officials, including Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, to discuss bilateral relations and regional developments.
In a recent message to Fuad Hossein, Amir-Abdollahian reiterated Iran's readiness to cooperate in the progress and comprehensive development of relations between the two countries.
The visit of the Iraqi delegation to Tehran took place at a time when the Iraqi political and security scene is also witnessing significant changes; the Iraqi Federal Court announced that it would announce its verdict on Sunday, after twice postponing the hearing on the complaints about the violations occurred in the Parliamentary Elections. Meanwhile, the Iraqi Joint Operations Command also announced the evacuation of two bases, Ain al-Assad and Harir, by US forces.
In recent years, Iran has always been the first state to provide aid to the neighboring and Muslim country during the crises that Iraq has faced; among other things, in the ISIL invasion of Iraq, it was Iran that stood by the Iraqi people and government and was able to eradicate the roots of terrorism, and then the economic and trade relations between the two countries expanded.
Iraqi President Barham Salih praises Iran's efforts
Iraqi President Barham Salih praised the Islamic Republic of Iran's efforts to preserve Iraq's territorial integrity and fight terrorism and noted that "It is recorded in history that Iran is a friend of Iraq during the difficult days, and this issue will always be a beacon for the future of relations between the two countries."
Among the Arab countries in the West Asian region, Iraq has the most cultural and religious affinities with Iran. Having the longest border between neighbors (about 1258 km land border and 351 km water border), racial, historical, linguistic ties and religious commonalities and the existence of common security and economic threats and interests are important points in Iran-Iraq relations. The statements of the Iranian and Iraqi officials also show the serious determination of the two countries to develop comprehensive relations.
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In a joint presser with his Iraqi counterpart, Fouad Hussein, on Thursday, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said that during the talks with the Iraqi delegation, two sides agreed on the acceleration of the Shalamcheh-Basrah Railway project.
Of course, in recent years, the United States has tried, in addition to straining political relations between Tehran and Baghdad, to take measures aimed at reducing Iran-Iraq trade cooperation, and in this direction, by imposing various sanctions, created obstacles to bilateral trade between Iran and Iraq. However, Iran and Iraq are targeting $ 20 billion in trade between the two countries, and according to the Iran-Iraq Joint Chamber of Commerce, trade between the two countries in the first week of the current Iranian year (starting on March 21) grew by 17% and Iraq after China is the second largest export destination for Iran.
"From a regional policy point of view, Iraq can be our most important partner in the economic, trade and even political fields, connecting points such as history, culture, human relations and geographical proximity of the two countries," said Mohammad Sadegh Koushki, an expert on Iraq.
Obviously, Iran-Iraq relations are beyond the neighborliness and in addition to the position that these two countries have in regional arrangements and bilateral relations with each other, they can also play an important role in regional convergence by developing relations; the existence of great capacities for cooperation between the two countries in the political, economic, cultural and security fields has provided suitable conditions for the further development of relations. Accordingly, the visit of the Iraqi delegation to Tehran can be considered as a sign of the seriousness and will of the officials of the two countries to bring the views closer and find solutions to expand bilateral and regional relations.
BY: Hassan Aghighi
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