After cancellation of Abadi’s Tehran visit, Iraqi government praises relations with Iran

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The Iraqi government has praised its relations with Iran and calls for maintaining strategic ties with its neighboring country.

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi headed a meeting of the Ministerial Council of the National Security in Baghdad on Sunday to discuss the security situation, combating the terrorists’ sleeper cells, and strengthening intelligence efforts to eradicate terror, a statement from the Prime Minister’s Media Office (PMO) said.

“Regarding the relations between Iraq and the Islamic Republic of Iran, the meeting emphasized the deep relations between the two countries where great interests are binding them together,” the statement said.

The meeting also stressed the importance of maintaining relations with Iran, it added.

The Iraqi government rejects all the misinterpretations and politicized statements about Iraq’s official position on the US sanctions on Iran, the statement noted.

Earlier on Sunday, the PMO announced the cancellation of Abadi’s official visit to Iran without providing further clarification.

The statement comes a day after the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs responded to an Iraqi official who claimed on Saturday that Abadi was to visit both Turkey and Iran this week.

Iran’s Foreign Affairs Ministry said they were not informed of any plans by the Iraqi Prime Minister to visit Tehran.

During a press briefing last week, Abadi said Iraq would not react to the US-Iran dispute as Washington re-imposed sanctions on the neighboring country but would abide by the decision.

Editing by Karzan Sulaivany