Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki was in Tehran on Tuesday and Wednesday heading a high-ranking delegation that met with Iranian officials.

The Iraqi prime minister’s trip to Tehran is of importance because Iraq is experiencing difficult political and security conditions.

Mounting waves of violence, the trial of Iraq’s former dictator, the situation of the occupying forces, the reconstruction of Iraq, and the issue of paying war reparations to Iran were discussed during Maliki’s visit to Tehran.

Bringing the two countries’ viewpoints on regional and global issues closer together, controlling land and water borders, and ties between Baghdad and Tehran were also on the agenda of the talks.

Iran-Iraq relations have experienced many ups and downs over the three past decades.

After the victory of the Islamic Revolution in Iran, which coincided with former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein’s relatively bloodless coup against then president Ahmad Hassan al-Bakr in 1979, the Baath Party launched a series of provocative moves along the Iranian border.

Many political analysts say that Saddam took center stage in Iraq’s political arena based on a deal between the two superpowers of the time, the Soviet Union and the United States, which resulted in an eight-year war being imposed on Iran in the 1980s.

The religious affinities shared by Iran and Iraq as well as the presence of many Shia shrines in Iraq are two important factors which should have brought the two nations together, but the former Iraqi regime tried to sever the two countries’ cultural ties through the imposed war.

Prior to the downfall of the Iraqi Baathist regime, some regional countries as well as elements of the previous regime attempted to destroy the harmony between Iran and Iraq, but the vigilance of Iraqi religious authorities and Iranian officials thwarted the plots.

Iran has made the utmost efforts to help establish security in Iraq in the 41 months since the collapse of Saddam’s dictatorship.

Iran’s actions have prevented the outbreak of all-out sectarian and ethnic strife in Iraq and have also prevented the violence from spilling over the border into neighboring countries.

The presence of the occupiers in Iraq has hindered the process of establishing security in the country, making it one of the most serious challenges facing the Iraqi government.

In addition, the occupying forces are trying to justify their presence in Iraq by fanning the flames of sectarian strife and fomenting insecurity, whereas their withdrawal would allow the Iraqi government to implement its national plan to establish a consensus between all Iraqi factions.

However, due to his thorough knowledge of Iran-Iraq issues, Maliki’s trip to Tehran can open a new window for improving relations between the two countries.

Indeed, Iran is anxiously monitoring the situation in Iraq because it regards Iraq’s security to be a part of its own security. If the process of establishing a strong government and democracy in Iraq fails, the Islamic Republic would be the biggest loser in the region.

Maliki’s trip to Iran will definitely help solve some problems between Iran and Iraq. Many ambiguous points will be cleared up in the security, political, and economic spheres. This will prove that ties between the two countries can not be affected by the senseless acts of terrorists or regional and extra-regional powers.

Aware of Iraq’s social and ethnic structure, the major powers are trying to spark a civil war because such a conflagration would not only trample the Iraqi majority’s rights but would also shift the region’s balance of power in favor of Iraq’s “offended minority”.

These facts illustrate why Iran is keen to see Maliki’s government strengthened so that the two countries can work for the reconstruction of Iraq based on their religious ties.