Iranian Defense Minister in Baghdad: Five files and Syria at the top
Baghdad Aktham Saif Eddin
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iran's defense minister, Amir Hatemi, arrived in Baghdad on Wednesday for an undeclared visit, the first of its kind in nearly two years, officials in Baghdad told the New Arab, a visit of political and military dimensions.
According to the leaks, obtained by the "New Arab", through officials in the Office of the Ministry of Defense of Iraq, to meet Hatemi with Prime Minister Haider Abadi, and his Iraqi counterpart Irfan al-Hayali, Iraqi Army Chief of Staff Gen. Osman al-Ghanmi, as well as national security adviser Faleh Fayadh.
The official IRNA news agency reported that Hatemi arrived at Baghdad International Airport on Wednesday morning and was received by the Secretary General of the Iraqi Ministry of Defense, Lieutenant General Mohammed Jawad.
"The purpose of the visit is to develop military and security cooperation between the two countries, as well as to discuss recent developments in the region and the military strike on Syria," Hatami was quoted as saying.
The Iranian minister is accompanied by Iranian army officers and officials of the Iranian border and navy forces in the two-day visit.
"The visit will discuss five files of different political and military dimensions, the first of which is a Syrian file, Iraq's consent to use its airspace by American aviation and the reopening of the international highway between Baghdad and Damascus through the ports of Al-Qaim," an Iraqi government official said. And newborn. "
The official added: "Among these files also, Tehran's desire to resume land transport through to Syria, and ways to secure it, and the debt file of Iraq to Iran for the purchase of weapons and ammunition in the government of Nuri al-Maliki the second in 2013 and early 2014. The fourth file is the formation of a coordination room Joint to control the smuggling operations and hunt gangs deployed on the Iraqi-Iranian border over a distance of more than 1000 kilometers, especially gangs of smuggling of crude oil and drugs.
The last file, according to the official, is "the implementation of a series of joint exercises between the two countries," adding that the five files have already been put forward by telephone between officials of the two countries in the past days.
"The Iranian minister will discuss with Iraqi officials a number of important files of common concern, including the issue of military cooperation between the two sides and arming," said a senior Iraqi official. Infiltration of elements calling from Iraq to Iran, will have a lot of joint research, as well as other files.
He stressed that "the main issue in this visit will be to discuss the repercussions of the military strike carried out by the United States, Britain and France on Syria," pointing out that "Iran is disturbed by the policy of Prime Minister Haider Abadi on the Syrian file."
He said that "the minister's visit is not limited to official meetings only, but will meet with Vice President Nuri al-Maliki and leaders of the popular crowd, including Hadi al-Amiri and Abu Mahdi al-Mohandes, as well as a number of other faction leaders."
Iran fears the positions of Abadi, who is trying to stand on the sidelines of the Syrian issue, trying to control the Iraqi militias loyal to Iran, and non-interference in support of the regime of Bashar al-Assad.
Deputy Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki met this week with Russian Ambassador Maxime Maximov and discussed with him cooperation to support the Syrian regime. He also held meetings with leaders of the "popular crowd" to discuss the issue, as well as contacts with Iranian officials.
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