Iraqi Premier Gets Iran Pledge
Iran’s president pledged Sunday to increase security cooperation with Iraq, saying Tehran “will do its utmost” to restore stability in its neighbor, with whom it fought an eight-year war in the 1980s.
Mohammad Khatami offered Iran’s cooperation while meeting with Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim Jafari, who is making the first visit here by an Iraqi head of government since Saddam Hussein was ousted in 2003.
Khatami said Jafari’s visit would be a turning point in bilateral relations between the two countries after the war that killed more than 1 million people.
“The security and stability of both countries are interrelated,” state-run radio quoted Khatami as saying upon meeting Jafari, who arrived in Tehran on Saturday.
“Tehran will do its utmost for the restoration of stability and security” in Iraq, said proreformist Khatami, whose eight-year tenure ends next month.
U.S. and Iraqi officials have called on Iran to guard its borders better and prevent militants from entering Iraq.
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