Tehran, Dec 5, – Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) Ali Shamkhani said in a meeting with Iraq’s Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki that expansion of wave of foreign-backed terrorism is the major security threat for the region. “Insecurity is like a virus that after infecting an area, not only pollutes there, but also will not leave secure its creators,” he said.
The representative of the Supreme Leader at the SNSC also referred to the economic cooperation between the Islamic Republic of Iran and Iraq, saying, “Cooperation in this field would increase shared interests and boosts both countries’ security indexes,” he said.
The SNSC secretary added, “Beyond doubt, keeping in mind the broad capacities in both countries and exchange capacities in civil engineering, oil industries, industrial, and commercial fields the level of Tehran-Bagdad cooperation can have a great leap forward proportionate with the cultural and religious feelings of belonging of the two nations.”
The Iraqi Prime Minister, too, for his part referred to the determining status and role of the two nations in regional political, economic, and security equations.
He further reiterated, “The most dire need in our crisis-stricken region today is expansion of close cooperation among the countries that believe stability and security can be achieved through mutual understanding and friendship.”
Nouri al-Maliki meanwhile announced Iraq’s readiness for comprehensive cooperation with the Islamic Republic of Iran aimed at removing some of the obstacles in the way of implementing the joint agreements.
In September, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif traveled to the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, on his first foreign visit as Iranˈs foreign minister
Last month, President Rohani announced that Al-Maliki would travel to Tehran to discuss implementation of a border agreement signed between the two countries in Algerian capital, Algiers, in 1975.
“The President (Rohani) in a meeting with the members of the Assembly of Khuzestan province’s lawmakers reiterated the implementation of the 1975 Algiers Agreement and announced that the Iraqi prime minister will travel to Tehran to discuss cleaning and dredging of Arvand River,” Khuzestan MP Abdollah Tammimi said.
The 1975 Algiers Agreement (also known as the Algiers Accord, sometimes as the Algiers Declaration) was an agreement between Iran and Iraq to settle their border disputes (such as the Arvand River in Iran, also known as Shatt al-Arab), and served as basis for the bilateral treaties signed on June 13 and December 26, 1975.
Less than six years after signing the treaty, Iraq attacked Iran. The primary motivating factor behind the Iraqi invasion under deposed Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein was to annex and incorporate Iran’s oil-rich Khuzestan province to Iraqi territory.
However, that invasion was quickly countered with fierce resistance by Iranian Armed Forces. The Iran–Iraq War lasted eight years, and finally ended with a United Nations brokered ceasefire in the form of United Nations Security Council Resolution 598, which was accepted by both sides.
Source: IRNA