Iran Urges Withdrawal of Occupying Forces from Iraq

Iranian Interior Minister Mostafa Mohammad Najjar on Tuesday urged alien occupiers to leave Iraq and allow the Iraqi government and people to establish peace and security in the war-torn country.

“…the security in Iraq needs collective security and joint consultation by the country’s neighbors as deployment and presence of alien forces in Iraq has resulted in instability and insecurity of the country,” Najjar reiterated, while leaving Tehran for Egypt to attend the 6th conference of Iraq’s neighboring countries.

“The US entered Iraq under the pretext of campaign against Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) but terrorism has spread in the country these days and we are witnessing increasing insecurity in Iraq every day,” he added.

Elsewhere, Najjar expressed the hope that the ministerial meeting in Sharm al-Sheikh would help to the establishment of tranquility, peace and stability in Iraq.

“The most important issues to be pursued in the meeting of Iraq’s neighbors include attention to the common borders and passages and their safeguard and blocking illegal entry of terrorists and weapons into Iraq,” he stressed.

Iraq’s security, border cooperation among the country’s neighbors to deal with the influence of terrorists as well as exchange of information on terrorist groups are among other issues to be discussed in the ministerial meeting on Wednesday.

Delegations from Iran, Egypt, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Jordan, Syria, Bahrain and Turkey as well as representatives of the UN, the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) and the Arab League (AL) are to attend the meeting.

Egypt and Bahrain are attending the meeting as observer members.

The first meeting in Tehran in 2004 convinced the neighboring states of the need for continuing such conferences and they have since convened in Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Jordan to help resolve the problems of the war-shattered Muslim country.