TEHRAN, Oct. 23 (UPI) -- Iranian officials said all Iraqi ethnic and political groups should stand in unity in negotiations with Washington over the long-term security arrangement.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said in a meeting in Tehran with Kurdish President Massoud Barzani that the American presence in Iraq only serves to undermine unity and create friction in the region, the Islamic Republic News Agency said Thursday.
"Iraqi groups can safeguard Iraq's security and block infiltration of the aliens through unity and solidarity," the Iranian president said.
He criticized the U.S. policy in Iraq, noting it pushes an American agenda in the region at the cost of alienating even its closest allies.
"Given numerous cultural commonalities, Iran has always stood by the Iraqi nation and will defend its rights in international circles," he added.
For his part, former president and chairman of the Expediency Council, Ayatollah Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, said the U.S. negotiations in Iraq are centered on protecting Washington, not Iraqi interests.
"Occupiers should not endanger the Iraqi nation's security in order to maintain their own security," he said.
