Iran and Iraq want to boost military cooperation to increase regional security 0410123

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Defense News - Iran/Iraq
 
 
Thursday, October 4, 2012, 02:21 PM
 
Iran and Iraq want to boost military cooperation to increase regional security.
Iranian Defense Minister Brigadier General Ahmad Vahidi said Iran attaches much importance to its ties with Iraq, and stressed the necessity for further cooperation between the two neighboring countries in defense fields. Vahidi, heading a high-ranking delegation, arrived in Baghdad this morning in a bid to meet with Iraqi officials and explore avenues for the further expansion of defense cooperation between the two sides.
     
Iranian Defense Minister Brigadier General Ahmad Vahidi said Iran attaches much importance to its ties with Iraq, and stressed the necessity for further cooperation between the two neighboring countries in defense fields. Vahidi, heading a high-ranking delegation, arrived in Baghdad this morning in a bid to meet with Iraqi officials and explore avenues for the further expansion of defense cooperation between the two sides.
Iran’s Defense Minister Brigadier General Ahmad Vahidi (L) meets with Iraq's National Security advisor Faleh al-Fayad in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, on October 3, 2012.
     

During the visit, which came at the invitation of Iraq's Acting Defense Minister Sadun Farhan al-Dulaymi, the two high-ranking military and political delegations will confer on the issues of mutual interests.

Speaking to reporters upon his arrival at Baghdad's airport, Vahidi stressed the two countries' ample capacities for bolstering mutual cooperation in different political, security, and cultural fields.

"Iraq has special place in Iran's foreign policy and defense diplomacy," Vahidi said, and expressed the hope that his visit would increase the level of defense cooperation between the two neighboring countries.

This is a first visit by an Iranian defense minister to Iraq since the victory of the Islamic Revolution.

Iran and Iraq have enjoyed growing ties ever since the overthrow of the former Iraqi dictator, Saddam Hussein, in 2003.

Both sides are working on a series of plans to take wide strides in expanding their ties.