Iraqi Ambassador to Tehran Mohammad Majeed Al-Sheikh said here on Tuesday that the presence of members of the terrorist Mujahideen Khalq Organization ”MKO” in Iraq is not permanent.
“The MKO members have been staying in Iraq before the Saddam Hussein regime was toppled,”he said, adding the necessary measures have been taken to expel them.
Al-Sheikh noted that the Iraqi government is not satisfied with their presence and said they would stay in Iraq until they find another country to accept them.
The envoy assured that the Iraqi government does not permit any action against the Islamic Republic.
He put the volume of Tehran-Baghdad trade at dlrs 2.4 billion, calling for expansion of mutual cooperation in all fields.
Referring to the exporting electricity to Iraq, he underlined that the Islamic Republic has launched some electricity projects in the cities of Shalamcheh and Basra which are in final stages.
He also termed the Tehran-Baghdad cultural and medical cooperation as proper, adding the bilateral cooperation in this regard is very good and effective.
With the aim of boosting the cultural and medical cooperation, al-Sheikh stated that a medical conference is going to held in Naseriyeh in near future.
He also called for holding talks between Iran and US, adding the Iraq issue is a good opportunity for them to set aside their differences.
“We want to prove to the world that negotiations is the only solution to any problem,”he observed.
The envoy also voiced his country readiness to release some of the Iranian prisoners, adding currently a few Iranian prisoners are behind bars in Badreh Prison and negotiations are underway to release them.
Referring to boosting bilateral cultural cooperation, the ambassador concluded that currently the issuance of visas for Iranian pilgrims have increased.
IRNA -2008/02/27