Alwaght- Iranian President Seyyed Ibrahim Raisi in a meeting with his Iraqi counterpart Abdul Latif Rashid emphasized that a security deal to secure the borders signed with Baghdad last year should be fully implemented.
He talked to the Iraqi president on the sidelines of a meeting of Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF) in Algeria.
"Iran has always wanted a strong and secure Iraq," Raisi told Rashid.
He further said that the magnificent holding of Arbaeen— a massive ceremony commemorating Prophet Muhammad's grandson Imam Hussein— every year is one of the showcases of the deep religious bonds between the two nations.
The Iranian president highlighted the security of Iraq and Iran and said that fight against terror and separatist militias on the border requires interaction and role play of both of the countries.
Referring to the long history of good neighborliness of the two countries, especially the residents of the Kurdistan region, with the people of Iran, Raisi warned against the conspiracy of the Israeli regime to harm these relations, and by recalling the historical role of the martyr General Qassem Soleimani in preventing the realization of the enemies' plans against the government and people of Iraq, he emphasized the necessity of the full implementation of the security agreement between the two countries regarding disarmament and preventing the presence and activity of terrorist and separatist elements on the borders of the Islamic Republic of Iran from the Iraqi side, according to Tasnim news agency.
The president, Tasnim reported, further said that Iraq's security matters for Iran not just in words but in practice, adding that the "blood of the two nations is mixed in this path... We need to work more to frustrate the enemies of two nations, on top of them the Zionist regime."
For his part, Rashid maintained that the Iranian-Iraqi relations go beyond neighborliness in terms of geographic borders and have deep roots in the religious and cultural beliefs of the two nations.
He also pointed to the Iranian support to Iraq in the key junctures, especially when terrorism hit the country.
"We will never forget the favor of the Islamic Republic and the people of Iran in critical and historical moments of the Iraqi people, and we assure that we will never allow the slightest encroachment from the territory of Iraq on the territory of the Islamic Republic of Iran," he noted.
He also referred to the shared views of Tehran and Baghdad on the Palestinian cause, adding that Iraq is proud of the brave stances of Iran regarding Palestine and Gaza and believes that as long as the Israeli regime exists in the region, there would be no peace and stability.
It is noteworthy that Iran and Iraq signed a security deal in March last year with the aim of tightening border security, mainly on the Iranian borders with Iraq's Kurdistan region.
Separatist terrorists have been launching attacks on Iranian civilians and security and military forces and fleeing to the autonomous Kurdish region. IRGC more than once struck deep into Kurdistan region, warning that terrorists' activities will harm ties with Erbil and Baghdad.
Iran argues that Erbil local government does not do enough to uproot terrorist groups plotting with Israel, an archenemy of Iran, to destabilize Iran.
Erbil says that armed anti-Iranian militants have been removed from the border according to the agreement, but Tehran argues they are still posing an active threat to Iran.
