Halbousi: Iraq stands by Iran in face of sanctions

Iraqi Parliament Speaker Mohamed al-Halbousi said on Wednesday that his country will stand by Iran’s side as Tehran has been put under unilateral sanctions by the United States.

In a joint press conference with his Iranian counterpart Ali Larijani in Tehran, Halbousi said “Just as Iran had positive stance in fighting terrorism, we will also support Iran against sanctions.”

“Besides, now it is the time to pursue the interests of our nations, which requires us to boost our cooperation in the economic sphere and elsewhere,” the top Iraqi legislator suggested.

For his part, Larijani expressed satisfaction with the current security situation in Iraq, after it defeated Daesh in late 2017 with the help of Iran.

The top Iranian parliamentarian said Iran and Iraq enjoy friendly relations in various fields, particularly in politics, economy and culture.

He also praised joint efforts by the Iraqi army, senior cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, and the government-backed Popular Mobilization Units (PMU), better known by the Arabic name as Hashd al-Sha’abi, in defeating the Daesh terrorist group.