President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Iraq is not being subjected to international sanctions under Chapter 7 of the UN Charter since there is no longer a Saddam Hussein, the executed dictator.
In a meeting with Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri Al-Maliki on Sunday, Ahmadinejad recalled that he discussed the issue with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on the sidelines of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) meeting in Italy, Fars News Agency reported.
He noted that Iraq has suffered a great deal in the past few decades.
“Today Iraq is at a sensitive juncture, but an effulgent future awaits the Iraqi nation and leadership due to its strong people,“ he said.
The president emphasized that all countries should help the Iraqi government overcome the prevailing sensitive situation.
“Neighbors, friends and the UN should help establish stability and security in Iraq. Of course, neighbors shoulder more responsibility in this respect,“ he said.
Al-Maliki, for his part, underlined the need to bolster bilateral ties.
“Development and stability of Iraq will be established through further expansion of mutual ties,“ he said.
He recalled that Iraq is firm about leaving a positive impression on the international community.
“Today, the Iraqi political groups stand united with regard to national solidarity and serving the public,“ he said.
The Iraqi premier emphasized that the internal situation in Iraq is much better than in the past and large areas of the country are safe and secure.
“A stable Iraq is to the benefit of the region and the world,“ he said.
Al-Maliki recalled that Iraqi leaders are worried and frustrated with the sanctions imposed on Iraq during the reign of Saddam Hussein and request the international community to rescue Iraq from the evil of sanctions.
In an earlier meeting with Iran’s Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki late Saturday, Al-Maliki sought to reassure Tehran over the planned security pact with Washington, vowing that Iraq would never be used as a platform to harm its friendly neighbor Iran.
“We will not allow Iraq to become a platform for harming the security of Iran and neighbors,“ he said.
Maliki arrived in Tehran on Saturday evening for a three-day visit. The premier, on his third visit to Tehran since taking office two years ago, was welcomed by First Vice President Parviz Davoudi.
The prime minister, who lived in exile in Iran during the Saddam dictatorship, made his first official trip to Iran in September 2006.
The first visit by an Iraqi premier since the US-led invasion was made by Maliki’s predecessor Ibrahim Al-Jaafari in July 2005.

Defense Minister Brigadier General Mostafa Mohammd Najjar (r) and his Iraqi counterpart Lieutenant General Abdel-Qader Mohammad Jassem Al-Abidi are seen in Tehran on Sunday.

Promoting Regional Security
Also on Sunday, Defense Minister Brigadier General Mostafa Mohammd Najjar said defense ties between Tehran and Baghdad will help forge the independence of regional security in a meeting with his Iraqi counterpart Lieutenant General Abdel-Qader Mohammad Jassem Al-Abidi, Fars News Agency reported.
Najjar noted that the two sides also agreed over land and marine border demarcations, and ways of demining border areas, in addition to defense, training and logistic cooperation.
Referring to the strategic location of both Iran and Iraq in the region, the Iranian defense minister calls for strengthening ties with this war-shattered country.
“Iran’s policy is based on defending the Iraqi government,“ he said, highlighting the importance of peace and security in Iraq.
“The two countries have good potential for cooperation in defense and security fields,“ Najjar said.
Al-Abidi, for his part, stressed that Iraq will not accept any anti-Iran article in the proposed security pact with the US.
“Iraq is preparing a strong army and needs Iran’s expertise in the defense field,“ he said, noting that an independent Iraqi Army will promote regional security.
The two sides also agreed during the meeting to hold more consultations in future. Al-Abidi is accompanying Al-Maliki during his visit to Tehran.

Iraq’s senior Shiite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Mohamed Al-Modaresy, warned on Sunday that the US-Iraq security pact might cause an uprising in Iraq.
Al-Modaresy described the long-term treaty with the US as a “sword directed over the Iraqis’ necks“, during a meeting with reporters, DPA reported.
“The security pact that should be signed between Iraq and the US requires a deep and a comprehensive vision about the general situation in Iraq,“ Al-Modaresy told reporters.
He added that the pact will be a failure if it is kept as it is.
With the UN mandate in Iraq set to expire in December, the US government has been involved since March in lengthy negotiations with Iraq over a long-term treaty.
Two agreements are being negotiated. One, known as the strategic framework agreement, would lay out the basis for long-term bilateral relations in the political, economic and security areas. The other, the status of forces agreement, sets the legal basis for the presence of US troops in Iraq and spells out the legal rights and obligations of the troops.
The treaty is expected to be signed by July.
The senior Shiite cleric stressed that the pact threatens Iraq with the UN mandate and will trigger “a new round of troubles“.
Al-Modaresy said that those who support the treaty should have a closer look at history and think of effective solutions to solve Iraq’s problems.
“It is not to the benefit of the US as a major power to lessen the sovereignty of Iraq. This treaty is humiliating to the Iraqi people, and might cause an uprising against it,“ Al-Modaresy said.
As the US and Iraq scramble to proceed with their negotiations over the agreement, Iraqis are alarmed by how much military authority the US will have over their country in future.
Politicians are also concerned the treaty is raising alarm in neighboring countries.

Majlis Research Center in a report on Sunday examined the rise in housing prices and ways of confronting it.
According to Fars News Agency, the center responded to the request of Jalal Yahyazadeh, a former member of Majlis Cultural Commission.
The center enlisted the hike in liquidity, weak performance of the capital market and other rival markets in recent years, absence of a systematic pricing mechanism, non-allocation of timely bank facilities as well as absence of rewarding and punitive taxation policies as some of the reasons behind the hike in housing prices.
The report cited banning or restricting short-term transactions that use the power of attorney in real-estate agencies, regulating cash flow in the economy sector, including the housing sector, controlling the costs involved in the housing sector, facilitating the means for rewarding taxation policies and granting suitable banking services to urban developers as some of the ways for confronting the rise in housing prices.
It also referred to continued migration from villages to cities as one of the reasons.
“Given the population configuration and the fact that a significant number of people are at an age where they need to get married and settle down, the housing sector encountered a rise in demand,“ it said.
The center noted that during 1998-2006, the lowest liquidity growth pertains to 1998 with 19.4 percent and the highest growth pertains to 2006 with 39.4 percent.
“During 1998-2006, liquidity volume has constantly grown. This is responsible for an unreal increase in housing demand,“ it said.

Iran’s National Petrochemical Industries predicted that 12 major petrochemical projects worth $4.79 billion will become operational by the end of the current Iranian year (started March 20).