Iranian leaders speak on U.S.-Iraqi pact

TEHRAN, Nov. 24 (UPI) -- Iranian officials Monday voiced their support for the position taken by leading Iraqis on the U.S.-Iraqi security pact set for a parliamentary vote Wednesday.

Saeed Jalili, the secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, expressed the significance of the military arrangement that provides legal cover for U.S. military forces in Iraq beyond the terms of the expiring U.N. mandate for Iraq.

"The views of the Iraqi Parliament and senior clerics regarding the Iraq-U.S. security pact, which is based on maintaining sovereignty of Iraq and its national consensus, are confirmed by the Islamic Republic of Iran," he said in statements carried by the official Islamic Republic News Agency.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki could secure a majority in the Parliament if he gets the backing from Shiite and Kurdish members. Maliki needs to win over Sunni lawmakers in order to get an overwhelming majority, a victory the influential Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani said is needed to give the pact legitimacy.