[caption id="attachment_21012" align="alignright" width="180"] Iran"s Deputy Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian[/caption]
Iran is sending a top diplomat to Iraq to pursue a terrorist attack against a group of Iranian pipeline workers in the neighboring country.
Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister for Arab and African Affairs Hossein Amir-Abdullahian is scheduled to leave for Iraq on Monday for a two-day visit.

He is to follow up on the December 13 attack in which masked gunmen shot dead 25 gas pipeline workers, including 20 Iranians, near the village of Balad Ruz northeast of Baghdad.

The pipeline is planned to connect Iraq’s gas network to energy reserves in the western Iranian city of Naft Shahr.

Describing ties between Iran and Iraq as “strategic,” Amir-Abdollahian said on Sunday that Tehran “will not allow Takfiri terrorists to get in the way of cooperation between the two countries and nations.”

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has offered condolences to Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani over the death of Iranians in the Friday attack.

Meanwhile, Commander of Iraq’s Ground Forces Ali Ghaidan said on Sunday that a new protection mechanism has been planned and the Iraqi Army would shoulder the responsibility of providing security for the Iranian workers.

The Iranian Foreign Ministry has strongly condemned the attack and said an investigation has been launched to determine the full circumstances of the terrorist act.

Iran’s Ambassador to Baghdad Hassan Danayifar said on Saturday that the attack was aimed at disrupting the public services and effective development projects whose timely implementation would prove the efficiency of the Iraqi government.

By Press TV

 

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