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Something
else missed yesterday: Iraq and Iran to co-operate over defence Former foes Iraq and
Iran announced “a new chapter” in their relations on Thursday, including
cross-border military co-operation, dismissing US concerns about Iranian
regional meddling. On his first official
visit to Tehran, Iraqi minister of defence Saadoun al-Dulaimi asserted his
country's sovereign right to seek help from wherever it sees fit in rebuilding
its defence capabilities. “Nobody
can dictate to Iraq its relations with other countries,” Mr Dulaimi said in a
joint press conference with his Iranian counterpart, Admiral Ali Shamkhani. The two ministers said
that a military co-operation agreement, now in the preparation, would include
Iranian help with training and upgrading Iraq's reconstituted armed forces, a
process so far overseen by US and coalition advisers. Iran and Iraq fought a
brutal war from 1980 to 1988, at a time when Washington saw Iraq's
then-strongman leader, Saddam Hussein, as a bulwark against the spread of
Iranian-inspired Islamic radicalism.
Since the US-led overthrow of Mr Hussein in 2003, US officials have
accused Shia-dominated Iran of interfering in Iraq's internal affairs. Iraq's interim government last year
rejected an Iranian offer of training for Iraqi border guards, but relations
have since warmed under an elected government, based on a Shia Arab
parliamentary majority. Mr Dulaimi, a Sunni Arab appointed to the
defence post in an effort to achieve ethnic balance, said Iran had offered $1bn
(€838m) in aid as a gesture of support for Iraq's post-war reconstruction,
without giving further details. The US administration
insists that coalition troops must stay in Iraq until the country's own
security forces are ready to stand alone against insurgents, who refuse to
recognise the government elected on January 30. While asserting Iraq's
sovereignty, Mr Dulaimi said coalition forces were still needed. “If they leave in the current
situation, there will be nothing but insurgency and crisis,” he said. “We
should have time to train forces to replace the multinational forces.” Ibrahim al-Jaafari,
prime minister, has called for training and re-equipping efforts to be stepped
up so that foreign troops can “leave Iraq sooner”. Mr Jaafari is scheduled to
lead a large delegation to Tehran next week. US and Iraqi officials
have previously accused Iran of encouraging instability in Iraq, reflecting
similar fears to those that prompted Mr Hussein's 1980 invasion. Tehran has denied cross-border meddling
or allowing arms and fighters to flow into Iraq from Iranian soil. Nonetheless, Admiral
Shamkhani welcomed “a new chapter in our relations”, promising that the
neighbouring countries would “start wide defence co-operations”. He, too, dismissed presumed US
objections. “No one can prevent us from reaching an agreement,” he said.
Keith Hudson, Bath, England, <www.evolutionary-economics.org> |
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