News / Politics

Israel bent on partitioning Iraq, warns Iran’s parliament speaker

Wednesday, 21 June 2017 2:09 PM [ Last Update: Wednesday, 21 June 2017 3:06 PM ]

Iranian Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani (R) and Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi shake hands prior to their meeting in Tehran on June 21, 2017. (Photos by IRNA)

Iranian Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani has warned about bids to break up Iraq, saying the Arab country’s partitioning serves the interests of Israel.

"The Zionist regime seeks Iraq's disintegration,” Larijani said during a meeting with Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi in Tehran on Wednesday.

Larijani said that Takfiri terrorists seek two objectives in Iraq; first to create internal conflicts in the country "to raise the issue of Iraq’s partition, which Israel is seeking," and second to engage Baghdad in domestic issues to undermine its positive role in the region.

He praised Iraq’s fight against terrorism and pledged Tehran’s support for Baghdad to that end.

“Iran will never play into the hands of countries that deploy terrorists under different pretexts [to achieve their objectives],” the top Iranian parliamentarian said, adding that Iran will always stand by its "close ally" in the fight against terrorism.

Larijani also cited Iraqi popular forces' "effective" role in the Arab country as the reason certain countries seek to undermine them.

Iranian Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani (R) meets with Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi (L) in Tehran on June 21, 2017.

Abadi, for his part, stressed that the Baghdad-Tehran ties would never be undermined.

He also pledged his country’s continued fight against terrorism.

“We are now in the phase of annihilating Daesh and we will be a forerunner in repelling terrorist attacks," he said.

"Fighting Daesh is our slogan, because the militants have shown that they are not committed to any religion and their latest attack on the Iranian parliament well proved it,” Abadi said.

On June 7, gunmen mounted almost simultaneous assaults on Iran’s parliament and the Mausoleum of the late Founder of the Islamic Republic Imam Khomeini. The Daesh Takfiri terrorist group claimed responsibility for the assaults, which killed 17 people and injured over 50 others.

The Iraqi premier underlined the need for solidarity in the battle against Daesh, expressing regret that divisions among certain regional countries were preventing efforts aimed at destroying Daesh and restoring peace and stability to the region.

Elsewhere in his remarks, Abadi welcomed further promotion of economic ties between his country and the Islamic Republic.

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