Iran’s supreme leader told visiting Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki on Monday the main problem facing Iraq was the presence of U.S. and other foreign forces there, Iranian state radio reported.
“The presence of occupiers in Iraq, particularly the U.S. armed forces ... is the main obstacle to unity in Iraq,” Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s highest authority, was quoted as saying during a meeting with Maliki in Tehran.
Iraq, which fought an eight-year war with Iran in the 1980s, is negotiating with the United States on a new agreement aimed at giving a legal basis for U.S. troops to stay in Iraq after Dec. 31, when their U.N. mandate expires.
U.S. officials have accused Iran of seeking to derail the talks by “inspiring” media reports that the United States is trying to force Iraqis to accept a deal on permanent bases.
Iran, whose nuclear program has raised tensions with the United States, blames the presence of U.S. troops in Iraq for the wave of violence that followed the U.S.-led invasion in 2003.
“The most important problem of Iraq is the presence of foreign forces in that country,” Khamenei said.
The United States says Iran is arming, funding and training Shiite militias in Iraq, a charge Tehran has always denied.
Soothing concerns
Al-Maliki on Sunday sought to soothe Iranian concerns about the talks with the United States, saying “there is nothing in today’s Iraq which could threaten the stability of the neighboring countries.”
Khamenei told the Iraqi prime minister on Monday that the “Americans’ dreams for Iraq will not be materialized,” Iranian state radio said.
Ties between Iran and Iraq have improved since Sunni Arab strongman Saddam Hussein, who led Iraq into war against Iran in the 1980s, was ousted in the 2003 U.S.-led invasion and a Shiite-led government came to power in Baghdad.
Khamenei pledged Iranian support for its neighbor: “Helping Iraq ... is our religious duty,” he told Maliki.