The Iraqi prime minister sought to ease Iranian fears over a proposed US-Iraq security deal, saying his government will not allow Iraq to become a launching pad for an attack on Iran.
Iraqi Prime minister Nouri Al-Maliki met yesterday with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, in a two-day visit to Tehran that was expected to focus on the security pact, which Washington and Baghdad hope to finish by mid-summer.
Iran fiercely opposes the agreement, saying it will lead to permanent US bases on its doorstep in Iraq, reflecting Tehran’s fears US forces could attack it. The agreement aims to establish a long-term security arrangement between Iraq and the US.
After talks with Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki on Saturday evening, al-Maliki said Baghdad would not allow Iraq to become a launching pad for “harming” Iran, the state broadcaster said on its Web site.
Al-Maliki said his government places great value on Iran’s security, the broadcaster said.
State TV said al-Maliki also met Iran’s intelligence minister, Gholam Hossein Mohseini Ejehi, on Saturday night. The report did not elaborate.
Iran’s official IRNA news agency said on Saturday that al-Maliki would also discuss “security issues” during his visit — a reference to US allegations that Iran is arming, funding and training Shiite militiamen. Iran has denied the charges, saying it supports Iraq’s security and stability.
The visit is the second this year by al-Maliki, a Shiite, and three months ago, Ahmadinejad made a landmark visit to Iraq.
Al-Maliki’s Dawa party, along with other Shiite parties in his ruling coalition, have longstanding close ties with Iran.
During former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein’s rule, Iran and Iraq fought an eight-year war that killed about 1 million people.
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese