Iraqi president Fouad Masoum on Sunday hailed neighbouring Iran for its “effectual” support to Iraqi troops in the fight against terrorism, Iran’s Tasnim News Agency reported.
Speaking in an interview with Tasnim on Sunday, Masoum stressed on the importance of bilateral ties with Iran, describing it as of “historic nature” and that it have never been in collision with the Arab country’s national interests.
“We seek strong ties with Iran. Our ties with the Islamic Republic are an important issue. Rarely is there a country with which we maintain such ties as we have with Iran,” he said.
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The Iraqi president added that the two countries’ relations “have gone beyond ordinary political relations, and we have taken advantage of these ties to achieve our purposes. We have always gained benefits from ties with Tehran, either during our struggles against Saddam’s dictatorship or after 2003.”
“We see no obstacle to Iraq becoming a major trade market for Iran, and as I said before, it is important for us to make use of Iran’s economic capabilities and experience,” Masoum pointed out.
The Kurdish president stressed that Iraq will not allow its ties with certain countries, including the US, damage relations with Iran which he described as Baghdad’s “brother”.
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“Although Iraq maintains ties with the US and other world countries, we do not want those ties to contradict the ones with Iran. We do not want our ties with other countries to damage the type of relations we have with Iran,” he reiterated.