By Xinhua,
Tehran : Iran’s Secretary of Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) Saeed Jalili said on Sunday that the Islamic Republic is ready to use all its experiences to help restore peace and stability to Iraq, the official IRNA news agency reported on Sunday.
Endorsing the Iraqi government’s efforts in restoring security, stability and peace to Iraq, Jalili said during his meeting with visiting Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki that the Iraqi people need a powerful democratic government and that the Iraqi government is able to overcome all internal and external issues with the help of its people.
Pointing out that the security established in Iraq would help boost peace and security in the region, Jalili said that Iran is ready to help Iraq to restore security.
The Iraqi prime minister, in return, expressed his gratitude to Iran’s assistance to his country and said that Iraq was ready to make use of Iran’s “valuable experiences in the areas of politics, economy, culture and defense.”
Al-Maliki also invited the Iranian private sector to “play a much more active role in implementing Iraq’s development programs.”
Al-Maliki arrived in Tehran on Saturday evening for a three-day visit, the third one since he took office two years ago.
Iran and Iraq fought a war between 1980 and 1988 but their ties have warmed considerably since the overthrow of Saddam Hussein’s Sunni-dominated regime in 2003. The first visit by an Iraqi prime minister to Iran since the U.S.-led invasion was made by Maliki’s predecessor Ibrahim al-Jaafari in July 2005.