Iraqi Gov’t Should Expedite Exit of US Military

Leader of Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei said the US presence in the Middle East is harmful to the interests of the people in the region, so the Iraqi government needs to compel the United States to withdraw its forces from the Arab country. 
“The presence of American military forces in regional states is to the detriment of these countries and the people in the region…, so [the Iraqi government] needs to take action so that the Americans pull out their troops from Iraq as soon as possible,” Ayatollah Khamenei said in a meeting with Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi in Tehran on Saturday. 
The Leader added that if US forces entrench in the country, it will become difficult to dislodge them in the long run. 
The Iraqi prime minister hailed Iran for standing by Iraq in hard times including during the battle against the self-styled Islamic State terrorist group.    
  
Abdul Mahdi arrived in Tehran on Saturday morning at the head of a politico-economic delegation to discuss ways of improving bilateral cooperation with Iranian authorities.