Iraq taps Iran for security, commerce

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The Iraqi government, frustrated with the slow pace of reconstruction, is increasingly turning to Iran for investment, refined oil products, electricity and other needs.

Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari is to lead a top-level delegation to Iran today to boost security and economic relations between the two Shi'ite-majority nations.

Six ministers, including Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari, are to accompany Mr. al-Jaafari on his four-day visit to Tehran, said the prime minister's spokesman, Laith Kubba.

"Iraq would like to build trust with Iran against the background of hostility and mistrust that cuts deep," said Mr. Kubba, from Baghdad.

Although he welcomes increased economic and security cooperation, the spokesman said, Mr. al-Jaafari also would make it clear to Tehran that Baghdad would not allow any political interference.

"The prime minister is going to deliver this message very clearly. It is tempting for Iran to meddle with Iraq's affairs; it might be tempting for the Iranians to overstep the line. The prime minister wants to make sure this will not be the case," Mr. Kubba said.

U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Zalmay Khalilzad said Wednesday that Washington wanted "to see these two countries have good relations with each other" but without "interference in Iraqi affairs."

Many members of Iraq's new government spent years in exile in Iran during Saddam Hussein's dictatorship and maintain strong links with their hard-line Islamic neighbor -- a cause of concern for Iraq's secularists, Sunnis and Christian religious minorities, and the United States.

"I can well imagine that they have to be very, very careful with these steps," said Phebe Marr, a senior fellow and Iraq expert at the United States Institute of Peace.

Improving ties with Iran, "while it might solve some problems, could open some wounds," she cautioned.