Iranian FM meets leading Shiite Clergyman in Karbala

KARBALA / IraqiNews.com: Mohammed Taqi al-Mudarrisi, a leading Shiite Clergyman, conferred on Thursday with the visiting Iranian Foreign Minister, Ali Akbar Salihi. During their meeting, al-Mudarrisi called on Iran to support Iraq on both the economic and security levels, in order to help it overcome its current challenges. “Iran has to play a positive role, being a neighbor that possesses the longest border with Iran, and to cooperate with it to support its efforts to achieve economic progress and security stability,” Mudarrisi’s office told IraqiNews.com news agency. “Iraq is presently in serious need of cooperation from the neighboring states in special and the international forces in general, in order to help it overcome the current challenges, in such a way that would help it play a positive role,” it said. Salihi’s visit, during which he conferred with Iraqi President, Jalal Talabani, Prime Minister, Nouri al-Maliki and Foreign Minister, Hoshiar Zibari, is taking place within the current efforts to boost bilateral relations between the two neighboring countries and means to settle the pending border issues between both countries. AN (A) / SKH 50