The region needs close cooperation among neighbouring countries in order to ensure collective development, as well as peace and security, which are indeed vital factors for progress of Tehran-Baghdad ties.
Here’s a viewpoint column in this regard that appeared on Monday, March 11 in Iran’s English language daily ‘Kayhan International’, written by S. Nawabzadeh.
Columnist S. Nawabzadeh commented: “The Iranian President’s arrival today in Baghdad is further confirmation of what I had emphasized last September (2018) in the Viewpoint Column of this daily: “although speaking different languages, no two countries in the world are bonded together by such close historical, cultural and religious ties, dating back several centuries, if not millennia.”
“This is the first time Dr. Hassan Rouhani is on a state visit to Iraq as the Chief Executive of the Islamic Republic, after having played host in Tehran to his Iraqi counterparts – President Fouad Masoom in May 2015 and President Barham Salih in November 2018.
“The previous president, Dr. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, had twice paid official visits to Iraq – in 2008 and 2013 – and on his maiden trip during the heyday of the American occupation and the terrorists they had nurtured in the country, he politely refused the services of a state helicopter by bravely opting for a motorcade ride from the airport to President Jalal Talabani’s house in Baghdad’s central Karrada district to the cheers of the Iraqi people.
“Those were the years when the present Prime Minister of Iraq, Adel Abdul-Mahdi, was the Vice President and had discussed with Ahmadinejad issues pertaining to the long joint border, including proper demarcation of Arvandroud (Shatt al-Arab for the Iraqis) and joint development for secure navigation of this vital waterway – a point emphasized in Tehran yesterday by Iranian Foreign Minister Dr. Mohammad Javad Zarif.”
The Kayhan International columnist pointed out: “Rouhani’s 3-day trip has assumed added importance in view of the illegal economic sanctions the US has imposed on Iran, the major trading partner of Iraq, and is pressuring Baghdad to reduce, if not cut, ties with Tehran – an idiotic notion which the government of Iraq has rightly rejected.
“The age-old ties between the two neighbours, which the US failed to dent despite instigating Saddam of the repressive Ba’th minority regime to impose the 8-year war in the 1980s, have withstood the test of time, since they are based on people-to-people relations and encompass all spheres of the needs of society, such as religious, cultural, social, commercial, academic, industrial, recreational, security, environmental, political, and of course, joint defence, for protection of the peace and stability of the two nations, which includes the fight against terrorism and American meddling in the region.
“Rouhani would be performing pilgrimage in this sacred month of Rajab to the holy shrines in Najaf, Karbala, Kazemayn and Samarra; and would be meeting Iraqi religious authorities, both Shi’a and Sunni, besides holding talks with senior officials of the host country, representing the different political and ethnic groups.
“He is expected to seal important trade and industrial agreements for further development of ties between the two countries, in view of Iran’s expertise in various sophisticated sectors of modern technology which Iraq needs and finds safe and economical while dealing with its trusted neighbour.”
According to the daily: “Iraq is part of the Solid Chain of Resistance linking Iran to Syria and Lebanon, which means Tehran will take every necessary step to further strengthen ties with Baghdad, including the connecting of the railway networks of the two countries in order to facilitate trade and travel.
“Whether Washington likes it or not, ties between Iran and Iraq are bound to progress much more spectacularly, despite the negative propaganda of the West, in view of the fact that whatever differences the Iraqi politicians and people may have, they are united on vital factors, such as preserving the independence and territorial integrity of their country.
“It means, the Iraqis are not only determined to end the illegal US military presence on their soil and looting of their rich resources by American-Zionist companies, but thwarting the bid by the Saudis, the Emiratis and other reactionary Arab regimes to serve as Trojan horses for Uncle Sam and Israel in Iraq.”
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