Velayati: Enemies Seeking to Weaken Iran-Iraq ‘Strong’ Ties

Speaking in a meeting with Iraqi Ambassador to Tehran Rajeh Saber Abboud al-Mousavi on Monday, Velayati described the growing ties between the two neighboring countries as age-old, and said common religion, history and culture is among the reasons behind the two nations’ deep-rooted relations.

“The enemy is seeking to weaken the remarkable and strong relations through undermining people’s beliefs,” he said, adding that today’s war of enemies and their plots are targeting ideological and cultural backgrounds of the Islamic nations.

The Iraqi diplomat, for his part, described the current level of Tehran-Baghdad relations as "a historical opportunity" and said in his recent meeting with a UN envoy, he emphasized that the UN should be grateful to Iran because if it had not been for the country, not only Iraq, but also the entire region should have fallen to the hands of Daesh (ISIS or ISIL) terrorist group.

Iraq has been facing the growing threat of terrorism, mainly posed by the Daesh (ISIL) terrorist group.

Daesh militants made swift advances in much of northern and western Iraq over the summer of 2014, after capturing large swaths of northern Syria.

However, a combination of concentrated attacks by the Iraqi military and the volunteer forces, who rushed to take arms after top Iraqi cleric Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani issued a fatwa calling for fight against the militants, have blunted the edge of Daesh offensive.

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.