TEHRAN- Abdul Latif Rashid, the President of Iraq, has praised strong ties with Iran, stating that the two neighbors frequently meet on all matters of shared interest.

In an exclusive interview with the Al-Alam news network, Latif Rashid said that Tehran and Baghdad have been proactive in coming to mutually beneficial accords.

“I believe our relationship with the Islamic Republic of Iran has reached a very good stage and consultations are continuous if not daily, then on a weekly basis in all sectors, trade, business, security, and even in some cases on the diplomatic level. All these issues are there,” he stated.

The president of Iraq also expressed satisfaction with his April trip to Tehran, when he met with the Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei, President Ebrahim Raisi, and other senior Iranian officials.

“The conversations were highly productive, and we decided to deepen our connections on all fronts — commercial, economic, historic, and cultural. We also talked about the issue of energy and water,” he continued.

“Therefore, our ties are continuous and are very strong. This is something we do not hide, and we are proud of this partnership.”

Latif Rashid said that his nation will never forget “the kindness of the Islamic Republic of Iran towards Iraq” in the face of adversity.

When Daesh launched its terror campaign in the Arab nation in 2014, Iranian military advisers raced to the help of the Iraqi armed forces under the direction of legendary counterterrorism commander General Qassem Soleimani.

Three years later they assisted Iraqi troops in reversing Daesh’s gains and eventually freeing their country from the barbaric terrorist organization.

In January 2020, the U.S. assassinated General Soleimani near Baghdad International Airport.

Latif Rashid emphasized that his country does not allow terrorist organizations to use Iraqi land as a base to conduct operations against any nation when asked about Iran’s worries about border security in light of the presence of terrorist groups in Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdistan region.

He remarked that the collaboration between Iraq and Iran “continues even on the security level and we have a plan to secure all the borders not only in that region, but in all regions, and practical steps are already being taken.”

The Iraqi president said that their security forces are present on both sides of the border and that Tehran and Baghdad have started putting into practice the security agreement they reached.