Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and Iraq Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi held a phone call on Tuesday.
At the start of the telephone conversation, Hassan Rouhani congratulated the government and people of Iraq on Eid al-Adha and said, "For the Islamic Republic of Iran, supporting the stability and security, independence and territorial integrity of Iraq is of special importance, and we consider the security and stability of Iraq as our security and we support the participation of this neighboring Muslim country in regional interactions."
The President said that Iran and Iraq have strong similarities that unite the two countries, adding, "The results and fruits of the strategic bound between Iran and Iraq go beyond the two countries and guarantee the security and stability of the entire region."
Rouhani said that the Americans are playing a double game in the fight against terrorism and that their actions on the Iraqi-Syrian border have been wrong and against the interests of the region.
"These days, we are witnessing the complicated game of the Americans in Iraq, and it is natural that these policies will not help to establish security and stability in Iraq, and will complicate the situation instead."
He noted that the Americans have always played a counterproductive role in the region and added, "The problems of the region must be resolved by the countries of the region."
He pointed to the high potentials of cooperation between Tehran and Baghdad in the economic and trade fields and stressed the need to implement and operationalize previous agreements, including the important Shalamcheh-Basra railway project, as well as defining a roadmap for economic cooperation and economic-trade strategy between the two countries.
He added, "Iran and Iraq can complement each other as two complementary economies by expanding their cooperation."
Prime Minister of Iraq, for his part, congratulated the government and people of Iran on Eid al-Adha and described the relations between the two countries as very friendly and strong.
Mustafa Al-Kadhimi emphasized the efforts to further develop and deepen the relationship and the continuation of bilateral and regional cooperation between the two countries in the future.
He added, "In the past 8 years, through your efforts and management, we have witnessed an increase in the level of bilateral, regional and international cooperation between Baghdad and Tehran, and good agreements have been reached between the two countries on cooperation on joint projects."
"I hope that these agreements, including the railway project between the two countries, which had been stagnant for years, will be implemented as soon as possible," al-Kadhimi said.
He once again thanked the Iranian government and people for supporting the Iraqi government and people in the fight against terrorism and ISIL, as well as for establishing peace, stability and security in the country.
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