Legislator praises Talabani’s statements on Iran

BAGHDAD / IraqiNews.com: A lawmaker on Saturday described Iraqi President Jalal Talabani’s statements on improved relations with Iran as “in harmony with the general context of normalizing relations with neighbors”. “The new Iraq rests on respect for others and non-interference in their internal affairs,” said Sami al-Askari, a member of the Iraqi parliament’s foreign relations committee, in statements to IraqiNews.com news agency. Askari belongs to the Shiite United Iraqi Alliance (UIA), the largest bloc in the Iraqi parliament with 83 out of a total 275 seats. On Friday Talabani had said that Iraqi-Iranian relations are beginning to expand towards “the better”, according to a presidential press release. “Talabani received on Friday (Jan. 16) a delegation from the Iranian foreign ministry under its official spokesman, Hassan Qashqavi, accompanied by the Iranian ambassador to Iraq Hassan Kadhemi Qomi as well as a number of Iranian newspaper editors and TV station directors,” read the release. “The Republic of Iraq and the Islamic Republic of Iran are bonded by strong ties in several fields and these ties have now started to expand towards the better,” Talabani was quoted in the statement as replying to Iranian reporters’ questions. Talabani hoped the “coming stage would witness more cooperation between the two countries in the fields of trade, industry and culture to the high interests of the two friendly peoples”. The release quoted Qashqavi as calling for “more cooperation to strengthen relations between Iraq and the Islamic Republic of Iran”.   AmR (S)/SR 1