BAGHDAD — Iraq's Prime Minister Nouri Maliki arrived in Iran on Saturday for a two-day visit with top leaders, during which he is expected to allay Tehran's concerns about the United States' continuing influence in Iraq.
The visit is Maliki's fourth since he was elected and comes just days after the U.S. handed over military control of the capital's Green Zone to Iraq and began a drawdown that is to lead to all American troops leaving the country by the end of 2011.
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Thursday, January 15, 2009 Home Edition Main News Part A Page 2 National Desk 2 inches; 64 words Type of Material: Correction
Iraqi party: An article in the Jan. 4 Section A about Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki's visit to Iran identified Iraqi Education Minister Khudair Khuzai and lawmaker Abdul Hadi Husseini as members of the Islamic Dawa Party. The two men belong to Islamic Dawa-Iraq, a separate group that is running candidates on the same slate as the Islamic Dawa Party in upcoming provincial elections.
Iran initially opposed the pact, accusing the U.S. of seeking to maintain its dominance over Iraq. American officials, for their part, have complained of Iran's influence in next-door neighbor Iraq, including its ability to sway radical Shiite cleric Muqtada Sadr's Mahdi Army militia.
Iran's influence in Iraq has grown significantly since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, which toppled the Sunni-dominated government of President Saddam Hussein, a longtime foe of Shiite-run Iran.
Maliki, a Shiite, met Saturday with Iranian Vice President Parviz Davoudi. Today, Maliki is expected to discuss economic, transportation and electricity issues with President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
"Our security achievements and redeeming Iraq from the sectarian war gave us the chance to exert more efforts to accelerate the process of reconstruction and development, which needs the presence of neighboring countries' companies," Maliki said in a statement.
Abdul Hadi Husseini, a parliament member with Maliki's Islamic Dawa Party, said the prime minister's visit was intended, in part, to "make Iran more comfortable and to remove any fear that Iraq could be used as a base" by Western military forces.
"This has been a sticking point for some time between Iran and America and Iran and the rest of world," Husseini said.
Iraq's minister of education, Khudair Khuzai, also an Islamic Dawa member, said Maliki had an additional aim: to help improve relations between the U.S. and Iran.
"We believe that having any tension between those countries will reflect negatively on Iraq," Khuzai said. "Iraq wants to be a [bridge] between both countries."
Iraq's ministers of trade, transportation and electricity accompanied Maliki. Husseini said Iraq was seeking to buy power from Iran and revive supply lines between the two countries.
