Press TV- Iraq, fresh from liberating Mosul in its most serious blow to Takfiri terrorists, is reaching out to Iran which, according to most senior Iraqi officials, prevented Baghdad from falling to Daesh.
Iraqi Defense Minister Erfan al-Hiyali was inTehran on Sunday,signingan agreement to step up military cooperation and the fight against "terrorism and extremism".
Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister HosseinJaberi Ansari was in Baghdad whereIraqi Parliament Speaker Salim al-Jabouri, who is a Sunni Muslim,stressed the need for the two neighbors to continue their cooperation in fightingterrorism.
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Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Hossein Jaberi Ansari (L) shakes hands with Iraqi Parliament Speaker Salim al-Jabouri in Baghdad on July 23, 2017.[/caption]Iran provided Iraq with a steady contribution of military advisers who were key to pushing back Daesh terrorists. Iran's charismatic military commander Major General Qassem Soleimani famously rushed to Iraq's help when Daesh was closing in on Baghdad inJuly 2014.
That was whenthe Takfiri militants had captured Iraq's second city of Mosul andswept across northern and central Iraq in the summer of 2014 ina blitz that placed nearly a third of Iraq under Daesh'scontrol.
The lightning attacks saw someof the worst atrocities in the region's memory, including the massacre of Sinjar andsummary execution of at least 1,566 Iraqi Air Forcecadets at Camp Speicher in Tikrit.
Some unusual events also came to pass, including a cakewalk march of Daesh armored vehicles in a single column into Ramadiwhere only one airstrike by the US and its allies could have taken them out.
The United States, however, started itsairstrikes in Iraq when the Takfirisevidently could not gain more ground and were rather being driven back, thanks to Iranianarms and weapons shipped to the Arab country.
When Iraq started to retake Mosul,US and other Western media initially described the attempt an impossible mission but later tried to portray America in the lead as advances began to fall in the Iraqi army's way.
Earlier this month, the spokesman for Hashd al-Sha'abi fighters Karim al-Nouri saidthe US had no role in Iraq's recapture of Mosul despite Western reports characterizing American troops as leading the operation.
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Iraqi Foreign Minister Ibrahim al-Ja'afari told Jaberi Ansari in Baghdad that "if it were not for Iran, Iraq would have been lost," the Akhbar al-Araq newspaper reported.
Ties between the neighbors have improved since Saddam Hussein was toppled in 2003, years after they fought a bloody war between 1980 and 1988.
On Sunday, Reuters news agency said the military cooperation agreement signed between Iran and Iraq wassetto raise concerns in Washington.
Iran's Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani told Hiyali in Tehran that the Islamic Republic was determined to stand byIraq in its reconstruction, "just as we were along withthe Iraqi people and governmentin fighting terrorism."
"We believe that all Iraqi ethnic groups should be present at the political and governmental scene and not allow enemies to intervene in determining their fate," the Iranian speaker said.
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Iranian Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani (R) meets with Iraqi Defense Minister Erfan al-Hiyali in Tehran, July 23, 2017. (Photo by Icana)[/caption]Larijani said Iraq should not rest on laurels of its victory, citing a series of threats which were targetingthe country's integrity.
"Certaincountries are afterinternal divisions andare raisingthe issue of Iraq's breakdown;they are certainly not your friends," he told Hiyali, referring to a referendum plan for the Iraqi Kurdistan's secession.
"With the achievement of this victory in Mosul, you will not find complete peace and there are concerns that Israel will not want to relax in the region and is constantly looking for new scenarios," Larijani said.
Moreover, "the terrorist forces are constantly looking for ways to influence, which is why the strengthening of the security and intelligence sector is very important and we will continue to support you as a neighboring country and friend," he added.
Hiyali said, "The Iraqi people and government will definitely never forget the support of those who did not leave them alone in this war, just as they will not forgetthose who sent Daeshto Iraq."
The Iraqi minister further thanked Iran for "itsbrotherly and cordial cooperation,"calling on the two countries to reinforce theirrelations, the IRNA news agency reported.
