The Iranization of Iraq begins: Iraq PM makes 1st official visit to Iran,

[kurth]

Sept. 12, 2006, 11:31AM
Iraq PM makes 1st official visit to Iran
By ALI AKBAR DAREINI, Associated Press Writer

TEHRAN, Iran — Iraq's prime minister made his first official visit to Iran on Tuesday, asking Tehran to prevent al-Qaida militants from slipping across the border to carry out attacks, an Iraqi official said. Iran's president promised to help Iraq establish security. The visit by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki reflected the complex relationship between mostly Shiite Iran and Iraq's government, dominated by Shiite allies of Tehran. Ties have grown stronger between the two, including new oil cooperation... Al-Maliki, who lived in Iran during part of a long exile from Iraq during the rule of ousted leader Saddam Hussein, received a red-carpet reception at the presidential palace before talks with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad...

"All our assistance to the Iraqi people will be to establish complete security in this country," Ahmadinejad said, according to a state-run news agency report of the press conference. "Iran and Iraq enjoy historical relations. These relations go beyond from neighborly ties. Our relations will remain excellent. We consider Iraq's progress, independence and territorial integrity as our own," Ahmadinejad said. Ahmadinejad also said Iran hoped the United States will leave Iraq soon. "This trip will strengthen bilateral relations. Iran and Iraq, as two brotherly neighbors, will stand by each other and unwanted guests (U.S.-led coalition forces) will leave the region," he said. Al-Maliki described the talks as "very constructive" and called Iran "a very important country, a good friend and brother."

Since Saddam Hussein's fall in 2003, Iraq has sought closer ties with Iran and to heal scars left by the 1980-88 war that killed more than 1 million people on both sides. Al-Maliki's Shiite-led government has strong ties with mainly Shiite Iran, and they are growing even closer, with Baghdad sealing deals last month for Tehran to provide it with gasoline, kerosene and cooking fuel amid a shortage in Iraq. Al-Maliki spent years in Iran and Syria in exile...

http://www.irna.ir/en/news/view/menu-234/0609129513151613.htm

[knowbody0]

1. i'm thinkin george karl and dick

are very confused by this

[Dhalgren]

2. Al-Maliki has already visited the UK,

does that mean the "Anglicization" of Iraq has begun. Or, since the UK has more than 8000 troops in Iraq, had that already begun?

Just because one nation's PM visits a neighboring nation does not mean that one is taking over the other - come on...

[kurth]

3. It's only a matter of time

As the disintegration of Iraq continues along ethnic and sectarian lines, the Iranian-Iraqi "brotherhood" will continue its evolutionary path towards an official alliance, notwithstanding the permanent U.S. bases in Iraq.

[Dhalgren]

4. I think that the nationalism inherent in the fundamental differences

between the cultures and histories of Arabs on the one hand and Persians on the other will make any kind of "alliance", just that; an alliance. There are also strong ethnic/racial considerations that both sides consider important. An alliance between the two countries, yes; the "Iranization" of Iraq, I highly doubt.