Iranian Foreign Minister Visits Iraq (moved from ATSNN)

Kamal Kharazi, the Iranian Foreign Minister, is due to hold talks in Iraq today with Iraqi Prime Minister Jaafari, the Iraqi President, and his counterpart, the Iraqi Foreign Minister. On the agenda are economic matters, non-interference policies, and an attempt to put closure on the Iran-Iraq war.



It seems to me that, while the United States may have been the straw that broke Saddams back, the Iraqi people who resented Saddam Hussein feel more kinship with Iran. Iranians are fellow muslims who helped support their long struggle against Saddam when America was still bombing Iraq and imposing sanctions. It seems this could be an opportunity for the US to improve relations with Iran, if they prove willing to work with the Iranians and respect Iraq's wishes for improved relations themselves with their neighbor. On the other hand, the US could view Iranian influence as a threat to their Iraqi "prize". It will be interesting to see how the triangle of the three countries establishes itself over the next year or so.

It really would be a shame for the US to take an aggressive stance towards Iran vis-a-vis Iraq. In my opinion, just about the only good to come to the Iraq people, in light of the new UN report on quality of life in Iraq, is that they no longer have to worry about mass conflict with Iran.

-koji K.

[edit on 17-5-2005 by koji_K]

[edit on 17-5-2005 by koji_K]

Koji,

the situation is a bit more complex than you started to describe. Iran and majority of Iraq are Shia so yes, there is a common faith and as such the relations between the countries are likely to be friendly. Having said that, one of the prominent Iraqi ayatollahs is actually an Iranian citizen. Now that Shia won the election in Iraq, the country will tilt towards Shia fundametalism and policy wise, will fall under Iranian control. There are no two ways around that.

This presents a strategic challenge to the United States, as using Iraq as a base for an invasion into Iran would be all but impossible.

That's what I said, no? I just didn't go into the Shia/Sunni divide, but yes, that's the underlying factor between the Iraqi/Iranian relationship. Iraqi's "against" Saddam were generally Shia, and recieved much support from their fellow Shia Muslims in Iran, a Shia governed country.

The whole situation between Iraq, Iran, and the United States seems to make it even more apparent that the invasion of Iraq was terribly ill-conceived. All these U.S. deaths just to have a country fall into the sway of another of our professed enemies. The really sad thing is a diplomatic path towards reconciliation and normalization with Iran still seems attainable, given the democratic nature of Iran and the strong progressive movements within said country, and yet I know I'm going to spend the next year or so watching the current administration turn opportunity into bloodshed.

-koji K.