Dabbagh urges reconciling Iraq’s interests with Iran’s concerns

BAGHDAD / IraqiNews.com: Iraqi government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh on Sunday called for reconciling Iraqi interests with Iranian concerns regarding the security pact Iraq is planning to sign with Washington to govern U.S. presence in Iraq. “The United States wants us to have relations and friendship with it, while we have friendly ties with Iran too and the last thing that we would want is enmity with Iran over this agreement,” Dabbagh told IraqiNews.com. Dabbagh was referring to the Iraqi-U.S. negotiations to sign a deal that should organize the presence of U.S. forces in Iraq within a legal framework. “Iran has its interests and might feel concerned about the presence of U.S. troops in Iraq. However, the political blocs are now acting in accordance with what Iraq would need and what Iraq’s interests would require,” Dabbagh added. He, however, expressed hope that the political powers should consider “their country’s interests and take into account that these interests would not harm Iran or any other country”. AmR (P) 1