Zarif: Iran, Iraq Share Stances On Ethnic Strife, Extremism

Baghdad, Sept 9, IRNA – Visiting Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and Head of the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq (ISCI) Ammar al-Hakim were quite agreed on ethnic strife and extremism in a meeting here Sunday night. The Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Republic of Iran continued his meetings with Iraqi political officials and religious personalities by meeting Mr. Hakim. At the beginning of the meeting, Zarif commemorated the name and the memory of Martyred Ayatollah Mohammad Baqir al-Hakim and Seyyed Abdul Aziz al-Hakim, referring to Hakim family’s great role in safeguarding the unity and solidarity of the Iraqi society, which is, he said, so important for the Islamic Republic of Iran. He announced, “The Islamic Republic of Iran, just like the Republic of Iraq, has been a victim of the usage of chemical weapons and feels the dangers of them quite well, but meanwhile Iran feels the threat of war waging and emphasizes the need to refrain from it.” The Iranian foreign minister reiterated, “We are glad that the high ranking Iraqi officials’ share the same viewpoints as the Iranians on ethnic strife and extremism, as well as the perils of foreign military intervention is Syria, and we should thus do all our best to refrain from the outbreak of another war in the region.” Seyyed Ammar al-Hakim, too, in the meeting congratulated Zarif for his appointment at the top position in President Hassan Rohani’s cabinet. He, meanwhile, stressed the great significance of the two countries deep-rooted relations, particularly the two nations’ intimate ties. Hakim also condemned the use of chemical weapons in Syria as well as military intervention in that country and anywhere else in the world. According to IRNA, Mohammad Javad Zarif who is in Iraq on his first visit to a foreign country ever since accepting the responsibility at the Islamic Republic’s foreign ministry also visited Kazemain after his Monday morning and evening visits with the Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari. During the meetings the Iranian and Iraqi officials exchanged viewpoints on the latest bilateral, regional and international developments. Zarif also had meetings with the Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Hussain Shahrestani, the Head of Iraqi Alliance Party Ibrahim Jafari and Deputy Prime Iraqi Minister Hassan Shaviz and held talks with them on issues of mutual interest. Member of the Iranian Islamic Parliament National Security and Foreign Policy Commission Kazzem Jalali, Iraq’s Ambassador to Tehran Muhammad Majid al-Sheikh, and Foreign Minister Assistant Hassan Kazzemi Qomi are accompanying the new Iranian foreign minister in this visit. The Iranian foreign minister is scheduled to pay pilgrimages to the holy shrines in Najaf and Karbala, too, in this foreign visit./end