By IINA,
Tehran : Iraq’s prime minister is in Tehran for talks with Iranian leaders, with a proposed US-Iraq security pact likely to dominate proceedings. Nuri Al Maliki’s third visit to the Iranian capital since he took office two years ago comes amid criticism in Baghdad and Tehran over the planned deal to keep US soldiers in Iraq beyond 2008. After a late-night meeting with Manouchehr Mottaki, the Iranian foreign minister, late on Sunday, al-Maliki assured Tehran that Iraq would not allow its territory to be used as a platform to “harm” the Islamic republic. “We will not allow Iraq to become a platform for harming the security of Iran and neighbors,” Al Maliki was quoted by the official IRNA news agency as saying.
Earlier, Ali Al Dabbagh, an Iraqi government spokesman, said al-Maliki will brief Iranian leaders on “the Iraqi vision, which is that it will not serve as a base or staging ground to launch attacks against neighboring countries”. “The prime minister’s visit to Iran is considered a step in a series of visits … and to form a strategy committee to develop the relationship between the two nations,” he said. Last November, Al Maliki reached an agreement in principle with George Bush, US president, to sign a Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) by the end of July. However, the deal has not yet been finalized amid protests in Iraq over the US military’s presence in the country.