Iran and Iraq sign accord to boost military cooperation

 

Iranian Defence Minister Hossein Dehghan delivers a speech as he attends the 5th Moscow Conference on International Security (MCIS) in Moscow, Russia, April 27, 2016. REUTERS/Sergei Karpukhin/File Photo

 

DUBAI (Reuters) - Iran and Iraq signed an agreement on Sunday to step up military cooperation and the fight against "terrorism and extremism", Iranian media reported, an accord which is likely to raise concerns in Washington.

 

Iranian Defence Minister Hossein Dehghan and his Iraqi counterpart Erfan al-Hiyali signed a memorandum of understanding which also covered border security, logistics and training, the official news agency IRNA reported.

 

"Extending cooperation and exchanging experiences in fighting terrorism and extremism, border security, and educational, logistical, technical and military support are among the provisions of this memorandum," IRNA reported after the signing of the accord in Tehran.

 

Iran-Iraq ties have improved since Iran's long-time enemy Saddam Hussein was toppled in 2003 and an Iraqi government led by Shi'ite Muslims came to power. Iran is mostly a Shi'ite nation.

 

U.S. President Donald Trump has voiced concern over what he sees as growing Iranian influence in conflicts in Syria, Yemen and Iraq, where it is aligned with Shi'ite fighters.

 

Tensions between Iran and the United States have heightened since the election of Trump, who has often accused Tehran of backing militant groups and destabilising the region.

 

Earlier this month, Trump said that new threats were emerging from "rogue regimes like North Korea, Iran and Syria and the governments that finance and support them".

 

The U.S. military has accused Iran of stoking violence in Iraq by funding, training and equipping militias. Iran denies this, blaming the presence of U.S. troops for the violence.

 

(Reporting by Dubai newsroom; Editing by Toby Chopra)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2017-07-24

Not good.....

 

Iran has it's sights set on Iraq....This is the first step....

7 minutes ago, pgrahmm said:

Not good.....

 

Iran has it's sights set on Iraq....This is the first step....

First step?

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/15/world/middleeast/iran-iraq-iranian-power.html

15 minutes ago, pgrahmm said:

Not good.....

 

Iran has it's sights set on Iraq....This is the first step....

Hang on, correct me if I'm wrong here, but didn't the US invade Iraq that had a very anti-Iranian President and overthrow that regime? In fact Iraq had a long and ugly war with Iran. Bearing that in mind, is this really an insidious Iranian plot or the stupidity of Bush foreign policy?

Iran will bring some stability to Iraq, after the god awful mess the US/UK have made of that country, of course the Israel lobby will be screaming from the rooftops about this.

I think the stage is being set for the big battle to come, the one between Shia and Sunni.   I think a lot of the reason that there was a sort of complicit silence which allowed the rise of ISIS is because they were Sunni.   

 

Nobody, but nobody, will ever bring peace to the region.   

 

I think we will eventually see the 'Mother of all Battles' in that part of the world.   

The agreement is between Iran and the Shia government of Iraq.

 

Divide Iraq into 3

 

Shiite Iraq with a capital in Basra

 

Sunni Iraq with a capital in Baghdad 

 

Kurdistan with a capital in Mosul

 

Where's Kissinger? 

Nuclear war between Israel and Iraq/Iran is a nice thought for the start of the week.

1 hour ago, Grouse said:

The agreement is between Iran and the Shia government of Iraq.

 

Divide Iraq into 3

 

Shiite Iraq with a capital in Basra

 

Sunni Iraq with a capital in Baghdad 

 

Kurdistan with a capital in Mosul

 

Where's Kissinger? 

There aren'r many Sunnis left in Baghdad.