Listen up, Bush tells Maliki: Iran is a danger -- Listen up, Maliki tells Bush . . .

[bigtree]

. . . we're cool with Iran, Iran's cool with us :shrug:


Iraq's Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki (L) and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad wave to journalists as they attend an official meeting in Tehran August 8, 2007.


Listen up, Bush tells Maliki: Iran is a danger to the Middle East

August 11, 2007

IN A warning to the Iraqi Prime Minister, Nouri al-Maliki, President George Bush said Iran was a danger to the Middle East, and that if Mr Maliki did not share that view, Mr Bush would have a "heart to heart" talk with him.

Mr Bush denounced Iran for its support of terrorist groups and for its nuclear program and threats to Israel. He warned that Iran would face unspecified consequences if it continued to provide explosives that kill and injure US troops.

His comments on Thursday came as Mr Maliki concluded a visit to Iran, where he held apparently harmonious meetings with top Iranian officials. Mr Bush said he presumed Mr Maliki shared his critical view of the Iranian Government, but he added that "if the signal is that Iran is constructive, I will have a heart to heart with my friend the Prime Minister, because I don't believe they are constructive".

http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/listen-up-bush-tells-maliki-iran-is-a-danger-to-the-middle-east/2007/08/10/1186530618698.html


Nuri Maliki: Iran, Iraq Deeply Eager to Expand Ties

TEHRAN (Fars News Agency)- Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki underlined eagerness of Tehran and Baghdad to further expand ties, saying that his visit to Tehran was aimed at implementation of the agreements already held by the two sides.

Speaking to reporters during a joint press conference with Iranian first Vice-President Parviz Davoudi here in Tehran on Thursday, Nuri al-Maliki said that that his trip to Iran was a result of the two countries' enthusiasm for further expansion of ties.

"And due o the same reason, these visits could be much fruitful," he continued.

The Iraqi premier further pointed to the two countries' ample commonalities, and said, "Considering that both countries are facing common challenges, they should make joint efforts to materialize their cause and ideals, common goals and joint interests."

"Not only this trip, but also other visits were aimed at a settlement of issues," he said, adding, "One of the crucial issues for the two countries was security challenges. Both countries are striving to reach a conclusion about security challenges; there are, of course, other countries which share our views about confrontation with these challenges in the region."

http://english.farsnews.com/newstext.php?nn=8605180210


related:


Iran, Iraq to Sign Pipeline Deal

TEHRAN (Fars News Agency)- Iran and Iraq will sign a deal in the next few days to build a pipeline that would transfer crude from southern Iraqi oilfields to refineries in Iran, a senior Iranian official said yesterday.

Iraq announced in May it had agreed to begin discussions with Iran over the pipeline that will carry 200,000 barrels of Iraqi crude to Iran per day.

"Based on this contract the Iraqi crude will be imported and oil products will be exported (to Iraq)," Iran's first vice-president Parviz Davoudi said.

He said Iraqi oil minister Hussain Al Shahristani would visit Tehran "in coming days." Davoudi was speaking after talks with Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri Al Maliki who visited Tehran on Wednesday and Thursday.

Iraq, which has faced chronic fuel shortages, is now looking to build four refineries and has asked Iranian firms to bid for such contracts across the country. Decades of wars, sanctions and underinvestment have slowed a recovery in Iraq's oil output.

Shahristani said in May Tehran was keen to construct the whole pipeline but his country would also consider other offers. Iraq needs to attract investment from foreign firms to develop fields and boost output.

http://english.farsnews.com/newstext.php?nn=8605190104

[pacalo]

1. That blows the boy king's excuse for attacking Iran, doesn't it.

There should be no reason to fear that Iran will cause "instability" in the region.

[bigtree]

5. and this is building on earlier security agreements

between Iran and the new Iraqi regime . . .

This is the reason for the pressure that Bush is putting on Iran.

[merh]

2. Basically what Afghanistan's Karzai told the US about Iran

Afghan president counters US rhetoric on Iranian role in country
By Agence France Presse (AFP)
Monday, August 06, 2007

WASHINGTON: Afghan President Hamid Karzai, a key US ally, contradicted US assessments of the threat posed by Iran and insisted in an interview aired Sunday that Tehran played a beneficial role in his region. "So far, Iran has been a helper and a solution," Karzai told CNN on the eve of a visit here Sunday to meet with President George W. Bush for talks on the deteriorating security situation in Afghanistan.

"Iran has been a supporter of Afghanistan, in the peace process that we have and the fight against terror, and the fight against narcotics in Afghanistan," said Karzai, who became president with US backing in 2002.

His remarks differed markedly from the US stance, which sees Iran as a major menace that bankrolls terrorists, supplies arms to insurgents in Afghanistan and Iraq, and seeks to develop nuclear weapons.

-snip-

http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=2&article_id=84351

[bigtree]

6. Syria's also working with the Maliki regime on security issues

08/08/2007 10:37 DAMASCUS, Aug 8 (AFP)
Iraq security talks open in Syria

Representatives of Iraq's neighbours and the global community, including the United States and its arch-foe Iran, opened talks in Damascus on Wednesday aimed at restoring security in the violence-plagued nation.

"Our aim is to help the Iraqi people overcome this crisis and to preserve their territory," said Syrian Interior Minister Bassam Abdel-Majid, whose country is accused by the United States of fomenting unrest in Iraq.

"We feel great suffering in the face of terrorist acts, murders and destruction that are perpetrated in Iraq," the minister said, adding that his country had taken steps to ensure security in there.

"We have reinforced border controls with the aim of halting the illegal passage of people and of prohibited goods," he said, while complaining that promises by unnamed donors to provide nightime sureillance equipment had gone unfulfilled.

Even so, he said a "large number of foreigners and Syrians who tried to cross the border have been stopped."

In the end, though, he said "all of these measures will be insufficient if they are taken only on side of the border. Border control is the common responsibility of (both) the neighbouring states."

Abdel-Majid expressed Syria's goodwill in "cooperating around the clock to achieve the interests of Iraq and all of its neighbours,"

http://www.africasia.com/services/news/newsitem.php?area=mideast&item=070808103755.bxqr8tf6.php

[leftchick]

7. The US and Israel are the only countries that "see Iran as a threat"

what does that tell you?

[merh]

8. something about those

shared agendas not based in reality. :scared:

[scarletwoman]

3. Iraq and Iran allies? We'll have to attack them BOTH!

:sarcasm:

[bigtree]

9. seriously

we're already fighting the Iraqis we trained

[Poll_Blind]

4. And then, during Maliki's speech...a shot rang out. n/t

PB

[Disturbed]

10. Seems that most of Iraq's neighbors want to get along.

Turkey has a problem with the PKK in the Kurdish region but that could be ironed out with a serious diplomatic effort from the Iraqi Govt. & the UN. The Saudi Royals have a problem with the Shia domination in Southern Iraq. The US Regime has one main interest in Iraq & the ME: The oil flow.