Sudani: Iran supports political process in Iraq, fight against terror

Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani has praised relations with Iran, saying the Islamic Republic has been supporting the political process in his country and the fight against terrorism, particularly the campaign against Daesh Takfiri terrorists.

“Iran is a neighboring country. We have a lot in common culturally, religiously and socially. They supported us with regards to the political process, and supported our efforts against terrorism,” Sudani said in interview with CNN broadcast on Monday.

He said it is natural for Baghdad and Tehran to enjoy good relations, and that his country has balanced relations with various states, and is the only country in West Asia to have friendly ties with the countries that may have differences or tensions with each other.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian visited Iraq on September 11 in his first official foreign trip after taking office.

During his three-day stay in Iraq, the Iranian president held meetings with senior officials and signed a series of agreements, including one on security cooperation. Pezeshkian also visited the holy shrines in Karbala and Najaf, and paid visits to Basra and Erbil as well.

Iran’s relationship with Iraq and its implications

The visit comes in the wake of a recent agreement between the Iraqi government and the United States, obliging American forces to leave Iraq by September 2025.

Elsewhere in his remarks broadcast on Monday, Sudani said Baghdad has pledged before the parliament to rearrange its relationship with the US-led military coalition, which has been present in Iraq under the pretext of fighting Daesh.

“The coalition was formed in 2014 at the invitation of the Iraqi government. The alliance, with the help of Iraq and friends outside the grouping, succeeded in destroying Daesh and achieved a historic achievement for the region and the world,” Sudani said.

He said the end of anti-terror operations does not mean Iraq would cut relations with the member states of the coalition, notably the United States; but would rather move forward with bilateral security relations based on the Iraqi constitution and law.

In 2020, the Iraqi parliament voted in favor of the expulsion of US-led foreign forces after a US drone strike assassinated Iran’s top anti-terror commander General Qassem Soleimani and deputy commander of Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) counter-terrorism force, Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, outside Baghdad International Airport.

There are nearly 2,500 American troops in Iraq and some 900 in Syria. The US has maintained its presence, although the Arab countries and their allies defeated Daesh in late 2017.

Iraqi resistance groups have been pressing for an end to the presence of foreign forces in Iraq more than a decade after a US-led coalition invaded the country in a blatant violation of international law based on false claims of it being in possession of weapons of mass destruction.

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