[Mb-civic] PRECURSOR OF A BIG PROBLEM - Iraq and Iran to co-operate over defence - FTimes

[Michael Butler]

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Iraq and Iran to co-operate over defence
>By Neil MacDonald in Baghdad and Najmeh Bozorgmehr in Tehran
>Published: July 7 2005 19:01 | Last updated: July 7 2005 19:01
>>

Former foes Iraq and Iran announced “a new chapter” in their relations on
Thursday, including cross-border military co-operation, dismissing US
concerns about Iranian regional meddling.

On his first official visit to Tehran, Iraqi minister of defence Saadoun
al-Dulaimi asserted his country's sovereign right to seek help from wherever
it sees fit in rebuilding its defence capabilities.

“Nobody can dictate to Iraq its relations with other countries,” Mr Dulaimi
said in a joint press conference with his Iranian counterpart, Admiral Ali
Shamkhani.

The two ministers said that a military co-operation agreement, now in the
preparation, would include Iranian help with training and upgrading Iraq's
reconstituted armed forces, a process so far overseen by US and coalition
advisers.

Iran and Iraq fought a brutal war from 1980 to 1988, at a time when
Washington saw Iraq's then-strongman leader, Saddam Hussein, as a bulwark
against the spread of Iranian-inspired Islamic radicalism.

Since the US-led overthrow of Mr Hussein in 2003, US officials have accused
Shia-dominated Iran of interfering in Iraq's internal affairs.

Iraq's interim government last year rejected an Iranian offer of training
for Iraqi border guards, but relations have since warmed under an elected
government, based on a Shia Arab parliamentary majority.

Mr Dulaimi, a Sunni Arab appointed to the defence post in an effort to
achieve ethnic balance, said Iran had offered $1bn (€838m) in aid as a
gesture of support for Iraq's post-war reconstruction, without giving
further details.

The US administration insists that coalition troops must stay in Iraq until
the country's own security forces are ready to stand alone against
insurgents, who refuse to recognise the government elected on January 30.

While asserting Iraq's sovereignty, Mr Dulaimi said coalition forces were
still needed.

“If they leave in the current situation, there will be nothing but
insurgency and crisis,” he said. “We should have time to train forces to
replace the multinational forces.”

Ibrahim al-Jaafari, prime minister, has called for training and re-equipping
efforts to be stepped up so that foreign troops can “leave Iraq sooner”. Mr
Jaafari is scheduled to lead a large delegation to Tehran next week.

US and Iraqi officials have previously accused Iran of encouraging
instability in Iraq, reflecting similar fears to those that prompted Mr
Hussein's 1980 invasion.

Tehran has denied cross-border meddling or allowing arms and fighters to
flow into Iraq from Iranian soil.

Nonetheless, Admiral Shamkhani welcomed “a new chapter in our relations”,
promising that the neighbouring countries would “start wide defence
co-operations”.

He, too, dismissed presumed US objections. “No one can prevent us from
reaching an agreement,” he said.

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