Iran’s top general discusses furthering military cooperation with Iraq
DAMASCUS, Syria (North Press) – On Sunday, the Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces and Major General Mohammad Hossein Baqeri, held talks with the Iraqi Defense Minister Thabet al-Abbassi regarding defense cooperation between the two countries. Baqeri expressed his forces’ readiness to train the Iraqi forces.
On Saturday, Baqeri arrived in Baghdad for a two-day visit to hold discussions with senior Iraqi officials amid the ongoing attacks by Iran-backed militias on U.S. bases in Iraq and Syria.
Iranian news agency Tasnim stated, “Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces Major General Mohammad Hossein Baqeri and Iraqi Defense Minister Thabet Muhammad Al-Abbasi talked about a range of issues.”
The military cooperation between Iraq and Iran in the field of defense was described as still far from the desired point.
On Sunday morning, the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, a coalition of Iran-backed militias in Iraq, announced that it targeted a U.S. base in Erbil, in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI).
Tasnim added, “The commander also expressed Iran’s readiness to stage bilateral or multilateral naval rescue and relief drills in the Persian Gulf.”
Recently, U.S. bases in Iraq have repeatedly been targeted by the Islamic Resistance, pushing U.S. forces to retaliate by bombing sites of Iran-backed militias inside Iraqi territory, which the government condemned and considered a unilateral action.
On Saturday, the Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani stressed, during a phone call with the U.S. Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, Iraq’s rejection of any attack on Iraqi territory, reiterating his government’s commitment to protecting the U.S.-led Global Coalition forces in Iraq.