Iran, Iraq Stress Broadening of Parliamentary Ties

During the phone talk on Sunday, Larijani and al-Halbousi explored avenues for bolstering and reinvigorating mutual cooperation between the Iranian and Iraqi parliaments.

Larijani congratulated al-Halbousi's election as new Iraqi parliament speaker, and expressed the hope that the neighboring country's new prime minister and president would also be elected soon.

The Iranian parliament speaker also expressed the hope that the Iraqi people will witness further improvement in the political, economic and social conditions and Iraq will move towards more stability, security and well-being.

He also attached great importance to the role that al-Halbousi can play in the well-being and successes of Iraqi people and government.

Mohammed al-Halbousi, for his part, appreciated Larijani for the phone call as well as to the role Iran played in liberating the Iraqi territories.

The Iraqi parliament speaker further described the US economic sanctions against Iran as "unjust", vowing that his country will stay with the Iranian nation.

Al-Halbousi also invited his Iranian counterpart to pay an official visit to Iraq.

On Saturday, Iraq's parliament elected Halbousi, former governor of the Western province of Anbar as its speaker while taking the first step towards forming a new government four months after national elections.

Halbousi, who had previously served in Iraq's parliament from 2014 to 2017, tallied 169 votes to beat out former defense minister Khalid al-Obaidi's 89, according to lawmaker Husham al-Suhail.

Message end/