Iran Foreign Minister in Iraq for Security Talks

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian shakes hands with Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein at a joint news conference, in Baghdad, Iraq February 22, 2023. (Reuters)
Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian shakes hands with Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein at a joint news conference, in Baghdad, Iraq February 22, 2023. (Reuters)
TT

Iran Foreign Minister in Iraq for Security Talks

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian shakes hands with Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein at a joint news conference, in Baghdad, Iraq February 22, 2023. (Reuters)
Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian shakes hands with Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein at a joint news conference, in Baghdad, Iraq February 22, 2023. (Reuters)

Iran's top diplomat Hossein Amir-Abdollahian held talks with neighboring ally Iraq Wednesday to discuss border security and regional affairs.

He noted the slow progress in talks in Vienna with world powers aimed at reviving the 2015 Iran nuclear accord, which promised Tehran sanctions relief in exchange for cutting back its nuclear activities.

The United States unilaterally withdrew from the deal in 2018 and reimposed sanctions, prompting Iran to begin walking back on its commitments under the accord.

Negotiations to return to the deal started in 2021 but stalled last year.

Iran is ready "to take steps to conclude the negotiations... on the basis of previous discussions and respecting the red lines" defined by Tehran, Amir-Abdollahian said.

"But if the American side chooses another path... all options are on the table", he added, without elaborating.

His Iraqi counterpart pleaded for a resumption of talks.

"It is important for Iraq that the Iranian and American parties reach an agreement", Hussein said.

The two ministers also discussed security on their border, after Iran last year bombed Iranian Kurdish opposition groups sheltering in northern Iraq.

Tehran accuses Iraq-based Kurdish groups of carrying out attacks in Iran, and of encouraging the months-long protests that erupted after the September 16 death in custody of 22-year-old Kurdish-Iranian woman Mahsa Amini, following her arrest for an alleged breach of dress rules.

Iraq later redeployed border guards to limit tensions.

"The Iraqi government has taken a series of measures to protect the frontier, and we agree that certain groups should not be allowed to cross this border," Hussein said.



Blinken and Lammy Arrive in Kyiv as Ukraine Pushes for Long-Range Strikes Against Russia 

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and British Foreign Secretary David Lammy arrive at the train station in Kyiv, Ukraine, Wednesday, Sept. 11, 2024. (AP)
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and British Foreign Secretary David Lammy arrive at the train station in Kyiv, Ukraine, Wednesday, Sept. 11, 2024. (AP)
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Blinken and Lammy Arrive in Kyiv as Ukraine Pushes for Long-Range Strikes Against Russia 

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and British Foreign Secretary David Lammy arrive at the train station in Kyiv, Ukraine, Wednesday, Sept. 11, 2024. (AP)
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and British Foreign Secretary David Lammy arrive at the train station in Kyiv, Ukraine, Wednesday, Sept. 11, 2024. (AP)

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and British Foreign Secretary David Lammy arrived in Kyiv on a joint visit Wednesday, as Ukraine presses the West to allow it to use long-range missiles against Russia.

The top diplomats reached the Ukrainian capital by train hours after the US presidential debate during which Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Trump sparred over the 2 1/2-year war in Ukraine.

Blinken traveled from London, where he accused Iran of providing Russia with Fath-360 short-range ballistic missiles, calling the move a “dramatic escalation” of the war.

For months, Ukraine has been requesting approval to use long-range weapons from the United States and Western allies to strike targets in Russia, and is expected to press harder given Russia’s latest reported weapons acquisition.

“If we are allowed to destroy military targets or weapons prepared by the enemy for attacks on Ukraine, it would certainly bring more safety for our civilians, our people, and our children,” Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said at a news conference in Kyiv on Tuesday. “We are working towards this and will continue to push for it every day.”

Referring to the missiles from Iran, he added: “Russia’s use of weapons from its terrorist allies to strike at Ukraine continues their genocidal war and terrorism on our territory. We must be able to respond to such terrorism in kind by destroying military targets on their territory to ensure greater safety for our citizens.”

Wednesday’s visit comes ahead of British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s upcoming trip to Washington, where he will meet President Joe Biden at the White House on Friday.

Russian airstrikes, mostly aimed at crippling Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, have intensified in recent weeks with nightly missile and drone attacks.