Iranian Daily Sees ties consolidating between Iran, Iraq

The USG Open Source Center translates an Iranian op-ed on the significance of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s visit to Iraq.

Daily sees ties consolidating between Iran, Iraq, urges unity
Resalat (Internet Version-WWW)
Monday, March 3, 2008 . . .
Document Type: OSC Translated Text

Daily sees ties consolidating between Iran, Iraq, urges unity

Iran press: Daily sees ties consolidating between Iran, Iraq

Text of commentary by Hanif Ghaffari entitled “New chapter in Iraq-Iran relations” published in Persian daily Resalat website on 2 March 2008

Our president’s trip to Baghdad today and his meeting with Iraqi officials will open a new chapter in relations between the two neighbours. In the present sensitive point in time, we are seeing the growth of two parallel phenomena with Iraqi affairs. One of these is Tehran’s increasing role in stabilizing and bringing security to Iraq. As one of the most important contributors to a sustainable peace in the Middle East, Iran has no concerns but the provision of security in Iraq. This reality has been proven repeatedly to the national reconciliation government of Nuri al-Maliki. The second phenomenon is the United States of America’s helpless situation in Iraq. With the announcement of the departure of Polish and Australian troops from Iraq – following the electoral victories of Donald Tusk in Warsaw and Kevin Rudd in Canberra – the White House find itself more than ever abandoned in Iraq.

The Bush Republican administration has thus no choice but to review the entire security situation in Iraq. In other words, in contrast with the 2003 to 2006 period, America has lost its unrestricted maneuvering power in Iraqi political relations. The recent trip by Mr. Ahmadinezhad to Baghdad may be considered in the context of direct interaction between “Iran after the Iraq war” and “Iraq after occupation by America.” Islamic Iran, after the end of the eight-year war with Iraq, moved toward self-reliance, empowerment and dynamism, while the Ba’thist dictatorship in Baghdad pushed Iraq toward destruction.

After Iraq’s occupation by warmongering neo-conservatives, the White House sought to infiltrate Iraq’s intelligence and security system with people like Iyad Allawi, Hazim al-Sha’lan and Ghazi Ujayl al-Yawar, to turn Iraq into a security hub furthering America’s imperialist aims. But the Iraqi people rejected this process and voted in free and democratic elections to give informed Shi’as the leading role in the country’s political dynamics.
Iranian and Iraqi officials are meeting at a sensitive time.

The presence of 10 million pilgrims for Huseyn at Kerbala on the Arba’in (40th day after the killing of the prophet Muhammad’s grandson Huseyn) and the confirmed death sentence for Chemical Ali – who has committed numerous crimes against the Iranian and Iraqi peoples – have increased the two countries’ inclination to work with and help each other more.

The epic of Huseyn’s Arba’in has shown that the links between Tehran and Baghdad are religious and profound, rooted in their common beliefs and view of this world and the next, and for that reason foreign powers are unable to undermine the two states’ solid ties. Tehran and Baghdad must in any case consider and emphasize some important points in their relations.

One is the resolution of differences remaining from the time of interference by imperialist powers, and this will be possible when both sides stress the departure of foreign troops from Iraq. Iran and Iraq are now in conditions where with emphasis on legal and political possibilities, they can resolve their differences without any marginal issues. The removal of the sinister shadow of occupiers from Iraq’s body will usher a new life of independence for that country.

Old colonialism, that is Great Britain, has sown the dangerous seeds of frontier disputes to divide Muslim states, and every now and then the West tries to revive the fault lines it has created, to prevent any effective unity among Muslim countries. Tehran and Baghdad must fully understand this point and prevent the possible initiatives of the imperialist current around them.

(Description of Source: Tehran Resalat (Internet Version-WWW) in Persian — Conservative Tehran daily, owned by the Resalat Foundation; associated with traditional merchants and conservative clerics)