Iran's ambassador in Iraq has harsh words for U.S.
Hassan Kazemi-Qomi says Iraqis want Americans out of their country. He speaks highly of Iraq's ties with Baghdad.
BAGHDAD — The Iranian Embassy is one of the seats of power in Baghdad. From here, Shiite-ruled Iran has played a key role in Iraqi politics, now also dominated by Shiites. Hassan Kazemi-Qomi, the Iranian ambassador to Iraq, presides over the stately embassy.
Kazemi-Qomi fought in the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war for Iran's Revolutionary Guard, and the former U.S. commander in Iraq, Gen. David Petraeus, has accused him of belonging to the Revolutionary Guard's secretive foreign branch, the Quds Force. Tehran has denied the charge.
Sitting with The Times, Kazemi-Qomi warned that the United States had worn out its welcome with the Iraqi people and said that Iraqis did not want a long-term security agreement with the United States. In contrast, he praised Iran's ties with the Baghdad government.
Question: Does one country, Iran or the United States, have more influence inside Iraq with the government and political parties?
Ambassador Kazemi-Qomi: The policy of our country is, first, Iraq is an independent and free country, a country which we wish has stability and security. We wish that Iraq has prosperity and progress, that the government is elected by their people, with national unity, and will have the withdrawal of all foreign military forces from its territory. On this policy, we are taking steps with the Iraqi people to support the Iraqi government in the political process and the security process. We support both the security and reconstruction process. We support both the Iraqi people and government within these frameworks.
Iraq and Iran have cultural and religious common ground and historical relations. We are together with Iraqis in sharing the same religion and also in belonging to the Shiite sect with many Iraqis. We also share ties with the Kurds. Between the two countries and the Iraqi and Iranian people, there are many relations and common interests. On the other hand, as neighboring countries, we have long shared borders. Iran is considered the best transit route to Iraq. In addition to that, Iran has good experience in reconstruction. The infrastructure of Iraq in the last three years has been completely destroyed. Today, they've started the reconstruction. . . .
Regarding the United States, Iraq is not a football. The Iraqis were happy when Saddam [Hussein]'s regime was toppled, but because of the American behavior and policies, Iraqis started to look at then in a negative way in spite being happy when the regime was toppled. They are upset because of the occupation.
