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Saleh will "present the facts to our brothers in the
Iranian leadership and clarify some
misunderstandings so that relations are based on
love and brotherhood," Allawi said.
"There are negative elements and tensions which run
contrary to the interests of both countries."
On arrival at the foreign ministry in Tehran a day
later than planned, Saleh explained the delay by
saying his direct flight to Tehran from Baghdad was
the first for more than 25 years.
Saleh, a Kurd from the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan,
also politely evaded the topic of Iranian
interference in Iraq, and was quoted by the state
IRNA news agency as saying he was "carrying a
message of friendship from the Iraqi government and
nation for the Iranian government and people."
The visit comes amid an effort to ease a recent war
of words between the two neighbors, after several
Iraqi officials joined the Americans in charging
that Iran had been involved in a three-week-long
Shiite Muslim uprising in the south and center and
even armed the rebels.
Iran has denied it is interfering, and foreign
ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi told reporters
that officials here would focus the discussions on
"Iranian nationals who are captive in Iraq."
An Iranian diplomat, Fereydun Jahani, went missing
on Aug. 4 on the road from Baghdad to the Shiite
pilgrimage city of Karbala where Tehran was set to
open a consulate.
His kidnapping was claimed by the Islamic Army of
Iraq, which was reported to have issued threats
against him but is not known to have carried them
out. The group has said it will release Jahani if
Iran frees some 500 Iraqi prisoners it is allegedly
holding. Tehran has rejected the conditions, saying
there are no Iraqi prisoners in Iran.
Iran has also been angered by the arrest of four
IRNA staffers. The men were released Friday.
Officials have said Saleh is also due to prepare for
a visit by Allawi. No date has yet been set for the
premier's visit despite a formal invitation by Iran
and trips to Iraq's other neighbors.
Iran was a bitter enemy of Saddam Hussein's regime,
with which it fought a bloody war from 1980-88, but
was nevertheless opposed to the US-led invasion.
Although Iran recognized Iraq's now-defunct interim
Governing Council, its supreme leader Ayatollah Ali
Khamenei greeted the new caretaker government as
"lackeys."
Officials here have since welcomed the formation of
the Allawi's administration as a step towards the
end of the US-led occupation.
Allawi has played down accusations against Iran and
said his country had no problems with the Islamic
republic.
During his visit, Saleh underlined the need for
cooperation.
"Iran is an important neighbor and Baghdad opposes
inflicting any damage on relations between our two
countries," he was quoted as saying.
On the fighting in Najaf, Iran has supported the
peace efforts of Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani - but
powerful former president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani
nevertheless compared the anti-US uprising there
with the resistance of the Soviet city of Stalingrad
during World War II.
President Mohammed Khatami asserted Saturday that
Iran was not stirring violence in Iraq even though
he acknowledged that relations with the United
States were at a low point.
"The policy of Iran is to solve the problems of
Iraq. We want calm in that country. We have problems
with the United States, but we will never impose
these problems on Iraqis," he said. - Agencies
http://www.dailystar.com
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