Speaking at the joint press conference today in Iraq, Iran’s Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani met with his Iraqi counterpart Salim al-Jabouri and said, “the will of the Iraqi people in fighting terrorism which I have witnessed in three regions in Iraq is a great blessing, and the Islamic Republic backs this will in combating terrorism in any other country.”
While maintaining that Iran has taken practical steps in sending aid to displaced Iraqis and would back any country engaging in the same practice, Larijani added, “since Saddam’s regime until now we have stood by the Iraqi people and backed democracy in Iraq.”
Ali Larijnai who will also visit the Iraqi Kurdistan during this trip, also expressed hope for President Rouhani’s visit to Iraq.
Larijani asserted the prospect of Iraq’s situation as positive, adding that, “these difficulties will for sure strengthen nations and serve as an exercise to reveal the real regional friends to them. Iran will definitely continue its support for Iraq against terrorism.”
Stressing the significance of Iran-Iraq oil and gas cooperation especially with some countries’ recent plots in reducing oil prices, Larijani maintained that the bilateral relations between the two countries must be further developed.
Salim al-Jabouri, for his part, welcomed the Iranian delegation’s visit to his country and said, “the most important issue in the region at the moment is the one on ISIL, and Iraq has sustained a heavy cost due to their terrorist attacks.”
“We are against any form of extremism and hope to work with Iran in extending cooperation,” he asserted.
A representative from the Kurdish faction in Iraqi Parliament Jalal Talebani commended Iran for giving refuge to the Kurds during the reign of Saddam and said, “both then and now Iran has been the first country to extend a helping hand toward us in countering terrorist attacks. We could have not defend our regions and taken back the ones we had lost to ISIL without the help from Iran.
Larijani, accompanied by Chairman of Parliament's National Security and Foreign Policy Commission Alaeddin Boroujerdi, Deputy-FM for Arab and African Affairs Hossein Amir-abdollahian, and a number of high-ranking officials had launched a three-leg regional tour to Syria, Lebanon and Iraq.
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