WORLD> Middle East
Iraq's visit to reassure Tehran over pact with US
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-06-10 09:03

TEHRAN  -- Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki on Monday wrapped up his three-day visit to Iran in which he sought to expand ties between the two countries and reassure Tehran over Baghdad's planned security pact with Washington.


Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (R) meets with visiting Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki (L) in Tehran on Sunday, June 8, 2008.[Xinhua]

Shortly before al-Maliki left Tehran Monday, Iraqi Defense Minister Lieutenant General Abdul Qadir Mohammed Jassim Obeidi al-Mifarji and his Iranian counterpart Brigadier General Mostafa Mohammad-Najjar inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to boost bilateral defense cooperation.

The MoU, signed at the presence of al-Maliki and Iran's First Vice President Parviz Davoudi at the Mehrabad Airport in Tehran, called for expansion of defense cooperation between the two countries in line with harmonizing all-out ties between Tehran and Baghdad.

Al-Maliki's visit came as the United States is pressuring Baghdad to sign an agreement that would allow US soldiers to stay in the country beyond 2008.

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