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

Iraqi critics of the agreement said that it means Iraq will be a client state in which the United States will keep more than 50 military bases and American soldiers will enjoy legal immunity.

Iran fiercely opposes the agreement, which is expected to be signed by midsummer, and has always called for the immediate withdrawal of US troops from Iraq.

On early Sunday, after his late-night talks with Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki in Tehran, al-Maliki said that Iraq would not become a platform to "harm" neighboring Iran, the official IRNA news agency reported.

The Baghdad government "will not allow Iraq to become a platform for harming the security of Iran and other neighbors," al-Maliki was quoted as saying.

"Iraq's stability and security can have a great impact on the region," said al-Maliki, who arrived in Tehran on Saturday afternoon for a three-day visit to the Islamic Republic.

Earlier on Monday, Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei told al-Maliki that the presence of US-led forces in Iraq is the country 's fundamental problem.

"The most fundamental problem of Iraq is the presence of foreign forces in that country," state television quoted Khamenei as saying in his meeting with Maliki in Tehran.

Presence of occupation forces, particularly the US troops, are now regarded as the main threat to the country's unity, said the Iranian supreme leader, adding that the occupation forces who have employed all their military and security power to interfere in Iraq 's internal affairs are now the main obstacle in the way of the Iraqi government and nation.

"We believe that the Iraqi nation through unity and perseverance will overcome hardships and attain their desired status," Khamenei said. "No doubt that the Americans' dreams will not come true."

His remarks were echoed by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who said on Sunday that he hopes the Iraqi government will successfully overcome the present sensitive situation.