President of Iran Ebrahim Raisi denounced foreign interference as an obstacle to regional security and stability, calling for regional cooperation to devise a roadmap to sustainable peace.
In a telephone conversation with Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi on Tuesday, Raisi stressed that the fate of the region must be settled by the regional countries alone.
He said the roadmap designed and implemented in cooperation with the regional states has to “light up the path to sustainable security, stability, and peace.”
“Foreign interference in the region’s affairs does not pave the way to either security and stability, nor expansion and development,” he added.
The countries’ common agenda features an aspiration for creating an “independent, united, safe, prosperous, and advanced” Iraq, Raisi noted, as quoted by Tasnim news agency.
He also emphasized that Iran has always backed and will continue to support any measure that could stabilize the situation in Iraq and enhance the Arab country’s role in the region.
The Iranian president also said that Iran and Iraq’s relation towards each other exceeded that of just two neighboring countries.
“The Iranian and Iraqi nations enjoy common causes. Therefore, the enemies’ heavy efforts (to damage the ties) have not been able to create any problem for them,” he added, Press TV reported.
Raisi also laid emphasis on the need for implementation of the two sides’ joint projects, including the railway connecting the Iranian border town of Shalamcheh to the northern Iraqi city of Basra.
Al-Kadhimi, for his part, stressed the importance of regional convergence, saying the region was going through big challenges these days, resolution of which required wisdom, patience, and regional cooperation.
“Tehran is considered to be a true partner for Iraq and has always stood by the Iraqi government and people in tough circumstances,” the Iraqi premier stated.
Source: Iranian media
