Iraqi President, Iranian Minister Talk on RelationsIran and Iraq expressed Saturday the desire to improve bilateral relations and resolve outstanding problems left over from their 1980-88 war.During his talks with visiting Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi, Iraqi President Saddam Hussein said Iraq has "strong will" to settle all the problems impeding relations between the two countries, the official INA news agency reported. "There should be a strong will and determination in order to normalize and develop relations between Iraq and Iran," Saddam was quoted as saying. For his part, Kharrazi said "Iran has the same will," adding that Iran hopes to resume the bilateral talks that started from 1997 and overcome all the obstacles hindering the normalization of bilateral ties. He said his historic visit to Baghdad will surely yield " positive results." Kharrazi also held talks with Iraqi Vice President Taha Yassin Ramadan on Saturday on ways to develop bilateral relations both politically and economically. The two countries, yet to sign a formal peace treaty ending the war, have to solve such thorny issues including the prisoners of war. Meanwhile, both countries host opposition groups of each other. Relations between the two Gulf neighbors, devastated by their eight year bloody war which claimed 1 million lives on both sides, have been improving in recent years. Iranian President Mohammad Khatami and Ramadan met last month in Venezuela on the sidelines of the second summit of the Organization of Petroleum Export Countries and pledged to strengthen their relations. It was the highest level contact between the two countries since 1997. Kharrazi, who arrived here Friday, was the first Iranian foreign minister to visit Iraq since the 1991 Gulf War which evicted Iraqi troops from Kuwait. Kharrazi's visit came at a time when Iraq is seeking to break the decade-old U.N. sanctions and the air embargo imposed by the United States and Britain. |
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