Iran Ready to Help Iraq Settle Domestic Problems: Parliament Speaker

Ali Larijani made the comments in a meeting with Iraq’s Foreign Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari in Tehran on Monday.

The Iranian parliament speaker also said the Iraqi political and ethnic groups should reinforce unity in the current ‘very sensitive’ situation as the country is battling foreign-backed terrorist groups.

Elsewhere in his comments, Larijani criticized the US and its allies for not being serious in their campaign against the ISIL terrorist group.

Pointing to the remarks by US statesmen that the fight on the terrorists in Iraq would take years, Ali Larijani added that such comments reveal Americans' hidden plots.

The ISIL terrorists made swift advances in much of northern and western Iraq over the summer, after capturing large swaths of northern Syria. They have been committing heinous crimes in the areas they have taken, including the mass execution of civilians as well as Iraqi army troops and officers.

A US-led coalition has been formed to fight the ISIL, while many of the countries in this coalition including Saudi Arabia and Qatar have supported ISIL elements in the region.

Amid tensions in Iraq, Iran is known as the first country to help the Arab country and has always voiced support for Iraq’s solidarity and prosperity.

In the meeting with Iranian parliament speaker, the Iraqi foreign minister, for his part, said Iran, as a powerful country in the region and throughout the world, has a special position in Iraq’s foreign policy.

He added that the exchange of visits between Iranian and Iraqi officials can improve mutual relations and called for Iran’s participation in the reconstruction of war-torn Iraq.

Jaafari arrived in Iran on Sunday heading a delegation to attend a two-day international conference on the World Against Extremism and Violence (WAVE) in Tehran, opened this morning with the attendance of envoys from 40 countries.

This conference seeks new strategies to curb the menace of violence and extremism in the world and its main subject includes ways to address the “global concern about the violent conditions in the cotemporary world.”

Iran attracted attention last year as one of the first countries that anticipated a growing trend in extremist moves in the world. On December 18, 2013, the United Nations General Assembly overwhelmingly voted to approve Iranian President Hassan Rouhani’s WAVE proposal.