Keeping territorial integrity, unity must top Baghdad’s agenda: Iran’s Jahangiri

Iran’s First Vice President Es’haq Jahangiri says maintaining territorial integrity and national unity should top Baghdad’s priorities at the moment, considering the volatile condition in the neighboring country.

The presence of the Daesh terrorist group and the resultant security concerns require the Iraqi officials to stay away from any issue that might weaken the country’s national unity, said Jahangiri in a meeting with Iraqi counterpart, Nouri al-Maliki, in Tehran on Sunday.

He urged all Iraqi factions to unite their efforts against the rising threat of Takfiri terrorism, vowing that “the Islamic Republic of Iran will always stand by the Iraqi government and nation.”

Jahangiri also voiced Tehran’s support for a recent set of reforms proposed by Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi aimed at uprooting corruption in the Arab state.

He further referred to the constructive role of the religious authority in Iraq, saying political officials should employ this great potential to resolve conflicts in the restive country.

Elsewhere in his remarks, Jahangiri touched upon the strategic importance of Tehran-Baghdad ties, saying the two sides can play a significant role in ending the deadly crisis in Syria.

Maliki, for his part, hailed Tehran’s “dignified” stance towards the crises in Iraq and Syria, vowing that the two Arab states will finally overcome Takfiri terrorism despite all hardships.

The Iraqi vice president also cast doubt on the sincerity of the US-led coalition against ISIL, saying certain countries provide the terrorist group with military and financial support and this has overshadowed the success of the anti-terror campaign.

Daesh easily sells the Iraqi and Syrian oil and this shows that we cannot trust the claims of the Western countries about fighting terrorism, he added.

With the backing of Western and some regional states, ISIL started its campaign of terror in Syria in 2012.

The militants, who currently control areas across Syria as well as northern and western Iraq, have been carrying out horrific acts of violence, including public decapitations, against Iraqi and Syrian communities such as Shias, Sunnis, Kurds, and Christians.