IRNA - Supreme Leader's advisor for international affairs Ali Akbar Velayati said that Iran-Iraq relations are strategic and they have always fought arrogant powers side by side.


Addressing a ceremony dubbed �Day of Iraqi Martyr� marking 15th martyrdom anniversary of Ayatollah Seyyed Mohammad Baqer Hakim on Friday, he added that Iranian military advisors are currently in Iraq at the request of the country and Iran feels itself duty-bound to defend Iraq.

In the course of history, the two countries have always been battled against arrogance, Velayati said.

Hailing strategic ties between Iran and Iraq, he said, �We honor development of Popular Forces in Iraq under a Fatwa by the Iraqi religious authorities.�

The senior Iranian official also recalled that the US is seeking to infiltrate the neighboring Iraq but it will never succeed.
�It will never reach its goals in Iraq and Syria,� he reiterated.

Massacre of Yemeni people is taking place due to the US excessive demands, he said, noting that Saudi Arabia should stop attacking the impoverished country, as the Yemeni nation will emerge victorious eventually.

Martyrs of Popular Forces and death anniversary of Seyyed Abdelaziz Hakim were commemorated during the ceremony which was attended by Iraqi Ambassador to Iran Rajeh Saber al-Mousavi and Chairman of Majlis National Security and Foreign Policy Commission Alaeddin Boroujerdi.