Iran urges solidarity on U.S.-Iraqi pact

TEHRAN, Nov. 25 (UPI) -- Iraqi lawmakers need to make a decision on the security pact with Washington that honors the interests of the people, Iranian foreign policy officials said.

Kazem Jalali with the foreign policy commission of the Iranian Parliament, the Majlis, said Iraqi lawmakers need to consider the interests of their people, Iraq as a nation and the region as a whole, the official Islamic Republic News Agency said Tuesday.

The 275-member Iraqi Parliament is set to vote Wednesday on a framework for a U.S. troop withdrawal from Iraq. The fate of the security pact was uncertain, as Sunni lawmakers said the matter should be put to a public referendum before moving ahead.

Jalali said he looked forward to Iraqi lawmakers considering the fate of the country and its people before making a final decision on the security arrangement that calls for a complete withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq by the end of 2011.

The Iranian lawmaker said Iraq needed to express its solidarity, claiming Washington was pressuring Baghdad to move on the agreement as U.S. President George Bush prepares to leave office in January.

"The situation in Iraq is complicated, and the Americans are taking advantage of such a complicated situation," he said. "Today, Bush is a real defeated person and therefore is trying to maintain his prestige in Iraq."