Tehran(July 24, 2017): Iran and Iraq have signed deals aimed at boosting military cooperation during a visit by Baghdad’s Defence Minister Irfan al-Hayali to Tehran.
In a memorandum of understanding signed by Hayali and his Iranian counterpart Hossein Dehghan, the neighbours agreed on a “wide range of military and defence cooperation” including the “fight against terrorism and extremism,” state news agency reported.
“Iran supports the unity of all groups and ethnicities in Iraq,” the state broadcaster’s website quoted Larijani as telling Hayali.
Larijani also underlined the importance of preserving Iraqi unity “because if it wasn’t for the emergence of political differences, the (Islamic State group) would not have been able to penetrate there”.
Tehran has been a key supporter of Baghdad in its fight against Islamic State and has provided Iraq with financial and military help.
Iran has its own Kurdish population along its borders with Iraq and Turkey, and does not want to see Iraq’s Kurdish region become an independent state.
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