Iranian foreign minister arrives in Baghdad

BAGHDAD (Reuters) – Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr
Mottaki arrived in Baghdad on Friday for talks with Iranian
officials in the second high-level visit since Saddam Hussein
was toppled in 2003.

The former Iraqi president fought a bloody war with Iran in
the 1980s but his Shi’ite successors, many of whom were exiled
in Iran, have established warm relations with Tehran.

The visit, which was postponed for several days until a new
Iraqi government was formed, aims to show backing for Prime
Minister Nuri al-Maliki, a Shi’ite Islamist who has formed a
national unity cabinet including Sunni Arabs and Kurds,
officials said.

Former Iranian foreign minister Kamal Kharrazi visited Iraq
in May 2005.

Some Iraqi politicians belonging to the Sunni minority have
accused Iran of fostering instability through militias loyal to
Shi’ite parties and stoking sectarian tensions to break up Iraq
in order to control its oil-rich Shi’ite Muslim heartlands in
the south.

Iran has denied the accusations.

(Baghdad newsroom)