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Iraq President Arrives in Tehran
27.11.2006
Update 2
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Tehran, November
27, -- Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said
his country would do whatever it could to help
improve security in Iraq, where tensions are running
high after the worst bombing since the 2003 U.S.
liberation.
Ahmadinejad made the pledge at the start of a visit
by Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, whose trip was
delayed by two days because of a curfew on Baghdad
after a bomb attack on Thursday killed 200 Shi'ite
Muslims. The curfew was lifted on Monday.
The United States is facing growing calls to hold
talks with Tehran to help end the bloodshed, which
U.S. officials say is being fuelled by Iranian
weapons exports and backing for Shi'ite groups. Iran
dismisses the charges.
"The Iranian nation and government will definitely
stand beside their brother, Iraq, and any help the
government and nation of Iran can give to strengthen
security in Iraq will be given," Ahmadinejad said,
according to Iran's ISNA news agency.
"We have no limitation for cooperation in any
field." |
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, right, shakes
hands with Iraqi President Jalal Talabani during an
official meeting in Tehran, Iran, Monday, Nov. 27,
2006. Talabani arrived in Tehran on Monday
Photo:AP |
Ahmadinejad was speaking shortly after Talabani's
arrival and just before the two presidents held
formal talks.
Talabani said he would discuss improving ties
between the neighbours, which fought a bloody
eight-year war in the 1980s.
"In this trip, we will also talk about Iraq's
security file because Iraq needs the comprehensive
assistance of Iran to fight terrorism and create
stability," Talabani was quoted as saying.
Political analysts said Iran might try to use talks
with Talabani to show off its influence to the
United States and bolster its position ahead of any
dialogue with its old enemy. They also said Iran's
ability to stem the bloodshed was limited.
"EXAGGERATION"
The analysts said Talabani, who speaks Farsi
fluently after years of contacts with Iran when he
was in opposition to Iraqi President Saddam Hussein,
could press Iran to stop seeing Iraq as a
battleground in its three-decade-old fight with
Washington.
Talabani was expected to meet Iranian Foreign
Minister Manouchehr Mottaki later on Monday,
followed by talks on Tuesday, the last day of the
trip, with Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei,
Iran's highest authority.
The visit is the latest of a series of contacts.
Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki visited Tehran
in September and secured a pledge of support for his
government from Tehran.
Ahmadinejad, who regularly rails against the West,
said on Sunday that Iran was ready to help the
United States in Iraq but only if Washington pledged
to pull out its troops.
An Iranian political analyst, who asked not to be
named, said Ahmadinejad's meeting with Talabani
would in part aim "to show Iran has the influence
and power to take the initiative before engagement
(with the United States) starts".
Analysts said Iran had powerful friends in Iraq, but
its influence still had limits. "I think there has
been some exaggeration about Damascus and Tehran's
capabilities," said Iranian political analyst
Mashaallah Shamsolvaezin.
Iran invited Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to the
talks, but Syria did not respond. Iraq and Syria
agreed last week to restore full diplomatic
relations.
The New York Times said on Monday a draft report
prepared for an influential panel considering U.S.
alternatives for Iraq urged direct talks with Iran
and Syria, but set no schedule for troop withdrawal.
(Additional reporting by Parisa Hafezi and Alireza
Ronaghi)
Reuters
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