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Iran Offers to Expedite Iraq Pipeline | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
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TEHRAN, Iran, AP – Iran said Sunday it supported a stable Iraq and called for expediting the construction of an oil pipeline and railway between the two neighbors, state-run television reported.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told visiting Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Chalabi that Tehran supports Iraq”s territorial integrity and believes a powerful government in Baghdad is in Iran”s interests. Chalabi is scheduled to meet U.S. officials in Washington next week.

The United States has accused Iran of not doing enough to stop militants entering Iraq to wage attacks inside the war-ravaged country. Iran, which is also under U.S. pressure over its nuclear program, denies the claims.

&#34The Islamic Republic of Iran believes that establishing peace and security in Iraq requires having a powerful government with popular support more than anything else,&#34 the television quoted Ahmadinejad as saying Sunday.

&#34Protection of Iraq”s territorial integrity, independence and might is of special significance to Iran,&#34 Ahmadinejad told Chalabi.

Chalabi”s visit to Iran is seen as a boost for Tehran, which has been the focus of international criticism after Ahmadinejad recently said Israel should be &#34wiped off the map.&#34

Earlier this week, U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan canceled a planned trip to Iran over those remarks and he has expressed &#34dismay&#34 in a rare rebuke of a U.N. member state.

Relations have improved markedly between Shiite Muslim-majority Iran and Iraq following the 2003 toppling of Saddam, who led Iraqi forces into an eight-year war with Iran that ended in 1988 and killed more than 1 million people on both sides.

The president said Iran was willing to offer its experience and expertise to rebuild Iraq and insisted on expediting work to set up an oil pipeline between Iran”s port city of Abadan and Basra, Iraq”s second largest city.

Ahmadinejad also called for completing a railway project connecting both countries. He said Iraq could use Iranian ports as a transit route to export goods.

Chalabi”s visit to Iran comes as the Iraqi politician pursues political rehabilitation in Washington after he was accused of passing classified intelligence to Iran before Saddam”s ouster.

Chalabi, once a U.S. favorite to replace Saddam, was also linked to the ultimately unfounded claims by President Bush and his top aides that Saddam had amassed hidden arsenals of weapons of mass destruction.

A former banker and graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Chalabi has been a controversial figure on several fronts, accused sometimes of being an Iranian agent.

Iran said it had &#34continuous and permanent dialogue with Chalabi&#34 but rejected the spying charges.