Pres. Rouhani: No power, third state can divide Iran, Iraq

AhlulBayt News Agency (ABNA): President of the Islamic Republic of Iran arrived in Tehran from Iraq to end his three-day visit to the country and said that the visit could be a turning point in the relations between the two countries.

Speaking at Mehrabad Airport upon arrival in Tehran late on Wednesday, Dr Hassan Rouhani said, "No power and third country can divide the great Iranian and Iraqi nations and governments".

"In this visit, we had meetings with almost all senior officials of Iraq, including the Prime Minister, President, Parliament Speaker and other high-ranking officials and discussed very important issues," he said.

The President also said, "We stressed issues related to borders and 1975 treaty, dredging Arvand Rud, and also free visas for the tourists and pilgrims to both countries".

He added, "Tourism is a very important issue with regard to economy, culture and even politics, and issuing free visas to both countries can be effective in developing tourism".

"We also agreed on different fields such as cooperation in energy, electricity, oil and gas," he said.

Dr Rouhani also went on to say, "In negotiations with Iraqi officials, we discussed technical and engineering services".

He added, "Regarding regional security issues, we reached good agreements and the two countries have close views about it".

The President also referred to the signing of five memoranda of understanding between the two countries and said, "In our meetings with Iraqi officials, both sides stressed that the good bilateral relations should be expanded to trilateral and multilateral relations".

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