Iraq Edges Closer to Iran, With or Without the US

Louise Roug and Borzou Daragahi, The Los Angeles Times

The Iraqi government is moving to solidify relations with Iran, even as the United States turns up the rhetorical heat and bolsters its military forces to confront Tehran's influence in Iraq. Iraq's foreign minister, responding to a U.S. raid on an Iranian office in Irbil in northern Iraq last week, said Monday that the government intended to transform similar Iranian agencies into consulates. The minister, Hoshyar Zebari, also said the government planned to negotiate more border entry points with Iran (...) While Iraq has been strengthening its ties with Iran, it has also made overtures to its western neighbor Syria. Talabani is on a state visit to Damascus, the first such high-level meeting in almost three decades. "For some time, we've been working quietly with them to normalize relations, to start up security talks with them," Zebari said...

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