Mohammad Javad Zarif made the remarks at a special funeral ceremony held on Friday for the former Iraqi president, Jalal Talabani. The ceremony convened in Sulaymaniyah and was attended by top-ranking Iraqi and international political figures.
The Iranian foreign minister was the first foreign guest to pay tribute to the body of the late Talabani. On the sidelines of the funeral ceremony, Zarif reiterated the need to maintain national unity and territorial integrity of Iraq adding “Islamic Republic of Iran will always remain on side of all Iraqi people, including Kurds, and would never blame Iraqi Kurds for strategic mistakes of certain figures.”
FM Zarif later described Talabani as a friend of Iran, an indefatigable fighter against Saddam’s dictatorship and a person who spared no effort in preserving unity and territorial integrity of Iraq.
Zarif laid a wreath of flowers on Talabani's coffin as a sign of respect to the prominent Iraqi Kurdish leader.
The ceremony was also attended by President Fouad Masoum of Iraq, Head of Democrat Party Masoud Barzani and KRG Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani, representative of the UN secretary general in Iraq as well as the US and British ambassadors in Baghdad who paid tribute by throwing petals on Talabani's body.
The former Iraqi president and secretary general of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) party passed away in a German hospital on Tuesday after suffering a long time illness following a brain stroke in 2012.
Iranian minister of foreign affairs later travelled to the Iraqi city of Najaf and was welcomed by local officials and authorities.
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