Zarif:

Iran, Iraq Rebuild What Saddam Hussain Ruined

TEHRAN (defapress)- Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif highlighted that Tehran and Baghdad have reached an agreement to make up for one of the damages caused by the war imposed by former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussain.

News ID: 76169

Date: 13 March 2019 - 16:53

“Today, Iran and Iraq released a historical joint statement about their commitment to 1975 agreement and urgent dredging of rivers at the joint border, this will remove one of the other impacts of the war imposed by Saddam Hussein against Iran,” Zarif twitted on Tuesday.

“Last night, Iraqi Prime Minister Adil Abdul-Mahdi held a reception for dinner with participation of Iraqi politicians. Iraqis are our friends,” he wrote.

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 Shatt al-Arab, known as Arvand River in Iran), 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 to invade her border lands. 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.

President Rouhani arrived in Iraq on Monday for a three-day visit aimed at boosting bilateral ties between the two neighbors amid US sanctions against the Islamic Republic.

Rouhani is visiting Iraq to hold talks with Iraqi officials. A high-ranking delegation is accompanying the president.

In relevant remarks earlier today, he warned of Washington's new plots against the regional states by relocating terrorists to Afghanistan and Central Asia.

"The problem of terrorism has not terminated yet, of course, and it is possible that the terrorists create problems for the regional people in different forms because the Americans have hatched a new plot against the region and are transferring the terrorists to Afghanistan, Central Asia and the Caucasus," President Rouhani said, addressing the Iraqi elites, tribal leaders and religious leaders in Baghdad on Tuesday.

He noted that the regional nations with their resistance showed to the world that the arrogant powers are the main sponsors of the terrorists providing them with money and arms, and that they plunder the regional countries' historical monuments and antiques and sell them in the market.

"Everyone is aware that the western powers have not played a role in annihilation of the terrorists and have only conducted theatrical operations with their planes and helicopters," President Rouhani said.

Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araqchi said on Tuesday that President Rouhani's visit to Baghdad “in daylight” showed Tehran’s power versus Washington’s weak position in the region, reminding that US President Donald Trump visited the Arab country at night without a reception.

Araqchi said that President Rouhani's visit to Baghdad “in daylight” and Iraqi officials' warm welcome proved Iran's grandeur and power.

“President Rouhani visited Iraq and was welcomed by the Iraqi officials, while US President Donald Trump visited Iraq over the night and landed in US military base without reception,” said the diplomat.

Araqchi said, “Iraq is a neighbor of ours and we are close partners.”

Touching upon the two visits, former Prime Minister of Sweden Carl Bildt, in a Tweet on Monday, mocked Trump for his secret two-hour trip to Iraq late in December, saying that his Iranian counterpart intends to make a three-day tour of the Arab country.

"While Trump only visited US troops at a remote airbase, not seeing Iraq leaders, Iran President Rouhani spends three days touring the country," Bildt wrote on his twitter page.

Also, Arab media outlets compared Trump's secret short visit to Iraq with his Iranian counterpart Hassan Rouhani's tour of the country whose preparations have been made weeks ago.

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