Iraq’s parliament speaker, Mohamed Halbousi, stressed Monday his country’s refusal to be a “platform for war against neighboring countries,” referring to the growing conflict between the United States and Iran.
Halbousi arrived in Tehran on Wednesday, heading a parliamentary delegation at the invitation of the President of the Iranian Shura Council Ali Larijani. A statement from his office said he met with Larijani and discussed “relations between the two countries, activating parliamentary friendship committees, as well as broadening cooperation horizons in all fields.”
Talks also touched on important challenges facing the region and the need to coordinate positions in international forums in the interest of both peoples, according to the statement.
But Halbousi, on the other hand, underlined Iraq’s rejection of attempts to use its territory to launch any attack or aggression on neighboring countries.
He also reiterated that his country would stand by Iran in facing the US sanctions.
For his part, Larijani expressed satisfaction with the current security situation in Iraq, saying that Iran and Iraq enjoy friendly relations in various fields, particularly in politics, economics and culture.
On a different note, Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi held a phone conversation with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo over the legal status of US-led coalition forces stationed in Iraq, Abdul Mahdi’s office said Wednesday.
The two officials discussed the latest developments in the fight against ISIS near the borderline with Syria, as well as the impacts of the fight on Iraq, the statement added.
