Iranian Defense Minister Brigadier General Mohammad Reza Ashtiani expressed the country’s readiness to assist Iraq in attaining self-sufficiency in defense industries, saying the interference of trans-regional countries in the Middle East is aimed at ensuring the security of the Zionist entity as well as the flow of energy.
In a meeting with his Iraqi counterpart Thabet Muhammad Al-Abasi in Tehran on Saturday, Brigadier General Ashtiani stressed that trans-regional states never seek to promote democracy but to create unnecessary crises, discord and conflicts in the region.
He added that Iran was prepared to share its experiences with Iraq to help the neighboring country become independent and self-sufficient in the defense industries.
“Experience has proven that the presence of trans-regional countries in any part of the world has been accompanied by insecurity and division. This presence in our region is meant to ensure the flow of energy and strengthen the Zionist regime’s security belt through creating artificial crises, differences, and conflicts between Muslim countries,” Ashtiani added.
“Therefore, this presence has never been meant for helping human rights, promoting democracy, and aiding regional people.”
The Iranian minister also said that Iran and Iraq enjoy a geopolitical connection, comprising ethnic, religious, cultural, economic, and energy elements.
He further called for vigilance in the face of plots hatched to damage unity and solitary between the Iranian and Iraqi nations.
The presence of foreign-backed terrorist groups in Iraq, including in the provinces adjacent to the Islamic Republic, still poses a threat to the national security of the two countries, Ashtiani pointed out, underling the increasing need for Baghdad-Tehran military, intelligence, and security coordination.
Referring to the cowardly US assassination of Iran’s top anti-terror commander General Qassem Soleimani and his Iraqi companion Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the second-in-command of Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Units (PMU), he said the legal pursuit of the case is still on the agenda.
For his part, the visiting Iraqi defense minister voiced his country’s determination to reorganize the armed forces after a long war against the Takfiri and terrorist groups, stressing that Iraq is willing to take advantage of Iran’s capacities for technical, technological and training cooperation in this regard.
“A strong Iran will lead to a strong Iraq and vice versa, and following this path will resolve regional challenges and crises,” he added.
The Iraqi defense minister called for the use of Iran’s capacity for technical, technological, and educational cooperation in the wake of Iraq’s decision to rebuild the country’s armed forces after a long battle with the Takfiri currents.
Source: Iranian media
