Iran’s Rafsanjani says U.S. up against Islam in Iraq

Iran Focus: Tehran, Iran, Nov. 28 – Iran’s former President Ayatollah Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani told visiting Iraqi Vice-President Adel Abdul-Mahdi on Sunday that the United States was faced with the problem of Islamic ideology in Iraq. Iran Focus

Tehran, Iran, Nov. 28 – Iran’s former President Ayatollah Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani told visiting Iraqi Vice-President Adel Abdul-Mahdi on Sunday that the United States was faced with the problem of Islamic ideology in Iraq.

Abdul-Mahdi met with the powerful cleric at the start of his three-day trip to Iran to held talks with senior Iranian officials.

During the meeting, Rafsanjani, who presently heads the State Expediency Council (SEC), blamed the United States and Britain for insecurity in Iraq, adding that the Iraqi people had demonstrated that they wanted to solve their country’s problems without the interference of foreign troops.

“The Islamic Republic of Iran has not held back from aiding in everyway the Iraqi government and people. In the future, with the establishment of a government approved by the Iraqi people, such help will continue”, Rafsanjani said.

He added that what was happening in Iraq was “undesirable to the occupiers. This was due to the vigilance of the clergy, the people of Iraq, and God’s blessings”.

“Foreign powers in Iraq want the country to be ruled in accordance with their wishes, but they have encountered a problem in the face of the Islamic tendencies of the people of this country”.

State-media reported that Rafsanjani accepted an offer to travel to Iraq, which he said he would do once the conditions had become appropriate.

Abdul-Mahdi separately held talks with Iranian Vice-President for Executive Affairs Ali Saeedlou in Tehran on implementation of the accords reached by the two countries’ top officials.

Saeedlou also emphasised that after the December elections there had to be an immediate withdrawal of foreign troops from Iraq.