Iraq stresses cooperation with Iran

Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari calls on the Arab League (AL) to utilize Iran’s strengths and capacities through active cooperation and engagement.

Zebari cited Iran’s constructive cooperation with Iraq in a variety of areas, such as resolving border disputes and joint oil wells, adding that his government was keen on sustained cooperation with the Islamic Republic, IRNA reported on Thursday.

The Iraqi minister, who was addressing a German foreign relations conference in Berlin, also condemned the Saudi invasion of Bahrain and its military intervention aimed at quelling popular protests in the tiny Persian Gulf kingdom.

He called on the West to maintain the same policies adopted in support of the popular uprising in Libya against the country’s ruler Muammar Gaddafi.

On Wednesday, top Iranian lawmaker Heshmatollah Falahatpisheh warned of the enemies’ schemes to harm Tehran-Baghdad relations.

Falahatpisheh hailed the fact that the eight-year war between the two countries under executed Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein has not stirred animosity between the two nations, identifying cultural commonalities for the bonds between Iran and Iraq.

In September 1980, Saddam forces imposed a war against Iran which dragged on for eight years.

Mutual ties between the two neighbors have been steadily improving since the fall of Saddam in 2003.