Iraqi al-Maliki assures Tehran that US-Iraq security pact will not harm Iran
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TEHRAN, Iran: Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki pushed Iran on Sunday to back off its fierce opposition to a U.S.-Iraqi security pact, promising Iranian leaders that Iraq will not be a launching pad for any attack on their country.
The agreement has become a center of contention as Baghdad tries to balance its close ties to Washington and Tehran. Iran fiercely opposes the deal, fearing it will lead to permanent U.S bases on its doorstep in Iraq amid fears of an eventual American attack.
Iran has lead a vocal campaign against the deal, with powerful former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani vowing last week that people in Iraq and the region won't allow it. That has led to U.S. accusations that Tehran is actively trying to scuttle the agreement — putting al-Maliki's government in a tight spot between its two rival allies.
Al-Maliki's visit to Tehran, his second this year, appeared aimed at getting Iran to tone down its opposition and ease criticism within Iraq, where followers of anti-U.S. Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr — who is close to Tehran — have held weekly protests against the deal.
But the security pact also faces strong criticism from members of al-Maliki's own Shiite-dominated coalition. Two Iraqi officials familiar with the negotiations warned on Sunday that a deal is unlikely to be reached before the end of President George W. Bush's term in January unless Washington backs off some demands seen as giving American forces too much freedom to operate in Iraq and infringing on Iraqi sovereignty.
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Iraq's parliament must approve the deal, and the two officials said opposition in the legislature was so widespread that it stood no change of winning approval without significant changes in the U.S. position. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because of the secrecy surrounding the negotiations.
In his talks with Iranian officials, al-Maliki offered assurances that his country is no threat to Iran, an aide to the prime minister said.
"Iraq, today, does not represent a threat as it was during the former regime because it has become a constitutional country based on the rule of law," a statement released by his Baghdad office quoted him as saying.
"Iraq is working on developing its relations with the countries of the region on the basis of mutual understanding and cooperation," it added.
An aide, however, said he would complain about Iran's public campaign against the agreement, as interference in Iraq's internal affairs. The aide spoke on condition of anonymity in return for giving information on the private talks.
In remarks to state television later Sunday, government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh stated that Iraq was sovereign and free "to enter in any pact helping it achieve its national interests."
"Moreover the others should not be acting as attorneys for the Iraqis or urge the Iraqis to reject the pact as what happened last week, when the Iranians urged the Iraqis to reject the pact," he said.
Al-Maliki also appeared to signal that Tehran would not be squeezed out by any agreement, saying Iraq's "development and stability will be provided through more bilateral cooperation" with Iran.
Ahmadinejad, in turn, insisted Iran had a key role in Iraq's security. "The responsibility of (Iraq's) neighbors is doubled in this regard," he said, according to the Web site.
Ahmadinejad also hinted at concerns that the security agreement would mean U.S. domination in Iraq. "Iraq must reach a certain level of stability so that its enemies are not able to impose their influence," he said, without specifically mentioning the deal.
In talks Saturday evening, the Iraqi prime minister told Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki that the Baghdad government places great value on Iran's security and will not allow Iraq to become a launching pad for "harming" Iran, the state broadcaster said on its Web site.
Iraqi Defense Minister Abdul-Qader al-Obeidi echoed that promise. He told his Iranian counterpart Gen. Mostafa Mohammad Najjar that the "agreement would not threaten" any neighboring country, and that no Iraqi govovernment would allow the country "to be used for attack on Iran or any other country," the semi-official Iranian news agency Fars reported.
Al-Maliki was expected to meet Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, probably Monday morning, but no official timing for a meeting was announced.
Further complicating al-Maliki's balancing act between Washington and Tehran are American allegations that Iran is arming and financing Shiite militiamen in Iraq, a claim Tehran denies. The Iraqi prime minister was expected to raise the concerns in his talks.
On Sunday, the U.S. military in Iraq said it had captured a Shiite militant who ran an "assassination squad" in the southern city of Basra and was responsible from trafficking Shiite extremists in and out of Iran for training.
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