SYRIA: Senior Iranian security official Ali Baqeri says Tehran supports new Iraq government

Record ID: 279118

  • Title: SYRIA: Senior Iranian security official Ali Baqeri says Tehran supports new Iraq government
  • Date: 29th December 2010
  • Summary: DAMASCUS, SYRIA (DECEMBER 27, 2010) (REUTERS) ALI BAQERI, DEPUTY HEAD OF IRAN'S SUPREME NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL, SPEAKING DURING NEWS CONFERENCE JOURNALISTS BAQERI TALKING (SOUNDBITE) (Farsi) ALI BAQERI, DEPUTY HEAD OF IRAN'S SUPREME NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL, SAYING: "The Islamic Republic of Iran and the Arab Republic of Syria support the democratic process in Iraq
  • Embargoed: 13th January 2011 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Syrian Arab Republic
  • Country: Syria
  • Topics: International Relations
  • Reuters ID: LVA5FSDTLSZVIX6D4QR3KJTYRVJX
  • Story Text: A senior Iranian security official said on Monday (December 27) that Tehran supported the democratic process in neighbouring Iraq, where a new government was formed recently after an inconclusive election.
    "The Islamic Republic of Iran and the Arab Republic of Syria support the democratic process in Iraq," Ali Baqeri, deputy chief of Iran's National Security Council, told journalists in Damascus Iraq's parliament last week passed a vote of confidence in a national unity government formed by premier Nuri al-Maliki after more than nine months of political wrangling following the March vote.
    "Iran and Syria supported what the Iraqi people chose and what they will choose. Iran and Syria totally support the formation of the new government in Iraq," Baqeri said.
    Iran and Iraq fought an eight-year war in the 1980s that left nearly a million people dead on both sides.
    But ties between the predominantly Shiite Iran and Shiite-majority Iraq have warmed considerably since Saddam Hussien's Sunni-dominated regime was overthrown in a US-led invasion in 2003.
    Baqeri arrived for a two-day visit to Damascus on Sunday (December 26).
    He also met Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and officials from militant group Hezbollah as well as leaders of the Palestinian factions.
    The Iranian official declined to comment when asked about the reaction of Hezbollah on the UN-backed Hariri tribunal that is set to announce its verdict on the murder of former Lebanese prime minister Rafiq Hariri.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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