TEHRAN (Tasnim) - Iraq�s Ambassador to Iran Mohamed Majed Abas Al-Sheikh said that his country has recently signed a deal to purchase arms from Iran as part of broader plan to boost Iraqi armed forces.
Speaking in an interview with the Tasnim News Agency on Monday, Al-Sheikh said �according to some sources�, Iraq�s defense ministry has found Iranian-made weapons "highly efficient" and considers it necessary for the Iraqi army to be equipped with them.
During a visit to Iran by Iraqi Defense Minister Saadoun al-Dulaimi in September 2013, Tehran and Baghdad signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to boost defense cooperation between the two neighboring countries.
Iranian Defense Minister Brigadier General Hossein Dehqan had earlier expressed Iran�s readiness to equip and strengthen the Iraqi armed forces.
Elsewhere in his remarks, Al-Sheikh referred to the Iraqi government�s fight against terrorist groups in the country�s western province of Al-Anbar, saying that local people and tribes in the province have come to aid the army in its operations against the terrorists.
�They indicated that terrorist groups have no place in this province," the diplomat said.
Iraqi armed forces last week killed 50 militants from the al-Qaeda-linked group of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in the western province of Al-Anbar.
The deaths were reported on Sunday as the government forces continue their operations against the al-Qaeda-affiliated militants in the province.
The Iraqi ambassador noted that terrorist groups like ISIL, Al-Nusra Front and others that have entered the Iraqi soil are supported by foreign countries and certain Arab regimes that seek the return to power the former dictatorial (Ba�ath) regime.
By Tasnim News Agency
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