Referring to an eight-year-old imposed war between Iran and Iraq, Ali Akbar Velayati said:
" Saddam Hussein, former Iraqi dictator,was the agent of the US and the Zionist Regime.The people of Iraq had no fault during the war".
" As you see each year, our people travel to the Iraqi city of Karbala to visit the holy shrine of Imam Hussein(PBUH).They are welcomed by the Iraqi people and also the Iraqi pilgrims are welcomed in Iran ,as if there was not any war between the two countries", he said
"The Iraqi government has asked for Iranian military advisors , so it is our duty to defend Iraq. During the course of history, the two countries fought against common enemies. The relationship between Iran and Iraq is a strategic one", he noted.
Pointing to the formation of Iraqi popular mobilization forces,also known as ,Al_Hashd Al-Shaabi, Velayati warned that the US is seeking an Insidious influence In Iraq and looking for disintegration of Islamic countries, especially in Syria, Iraq and Yemen.
He expressed confidence that the US will not succeed in achieving its aims in the region.
He also blamed the US" avarice" for the massacre of Yemeni People and urged Saudi Arabia to end the conflict in Yemen.
The statement was made during the commemoration ceremony for" Iraqi martyr Day", notably Mohammad Baqir al-Hakim,who was a senior Iraqi Shia cleric and the leader of former Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq. He was assassinated in a bomb attack in Najaf in 2003.
