President Barzani arrives in Tehran
The Kurdish delegation seeks to ease any concerns of neighboring Iran by explaining Kurdish "ideas and attitudes" to them.
President of the Iraqi Kurdistan Region, Massoud Barzani, heading a delegation of Kurdistan political powers, arrived on Wednesday at Tehran's Mehrabad international airport where he was received by Iranian Minister of Foreign Affairs Manuchehr Mutaki and Iraqi ambassador to Tehran Muhammad Majeed.
Speaking from Tehran, President Barzani said that the security pact that is supposed to be signed between Baghdad and Washington is the best choice and does not affect Iraq's sovereignty.
In a press conference with Iran's foreign minister, Manuchehr Mutaki, Barzani was asked whether he had announced that the security pact will be signed. Barzani replied, "I never even once said that the agreement will be signed. I always said signing it is difficult."
He stated that the final version of the agreement draft is the best choice in front of Iraqis. "Nobody wants the sovereignty of his country to be violated. But this is a fact; according to the agreement, the multinational forces will pull out of the cities next June and will completely withdraw by 2011. Then complete sovereignty returns to the Iraqis."
Also on the same issue, the Iranian foreign minister stated: "There are different points of view in this regard including Iraqi peoples' and (religious) clerics' views. I hope for wisely deciding on what is in the favor of Iraqi people with keeping Iraqi peoples' and religious clerics' notes.
"Iraqi Kurdistan, together with Iraq's parts, makes the name of the great Iraq people. Defending the whole land and unity of Iraq is the firm essence for protecting stability of this country," said Mutaki, adding that he heard positive expressions from Barzani.
Mutaki announced that Iran is attempting to develop relations with Kurdistan that are suitable for economic and trading cooperation. He added that they will work to increase the volume of our trade from three to five billion USD, which was reported the Iranian Students News Agency...
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