The stance adopted by Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi on renewed US sanctions against Iran will not affect the deep-rooted relations between the two neighbors, a lawmaker said.
"I believe this [al-Abadi’s remarks] is not a strategic shift regarding Iran," Heshmatollah Falahatpisheh, chairman of Majlis National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, told ISNA in remarks published on Monday.
The Iraqi leader last Tuesday Iraq, which relies on Iran as a source of cheap imports, would comply, albeit reluctantly, with US sanctions against Tehran, AFP reported.
"We don't support the sanctions because they are a strategic mistake, but we will comply with them," said al-Abadi, whose country is an ally of both Tehran and Washington. "In general, sanctions are unjust", he concurred.
*** Friends in Deed
Iraq considers Iran a "friend", the parliamentarian stressed, adding, "Obviously, one statement cannot end this friendship and brotherhood."
Due to the proximity of relations between the two nations, even those affiliated to Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, who has at times criticized Iran, have defended Iran and expressed disapproval of the illegal US sanctions, Falahatpisheh said.
His comment was an apparent reference to Seyed Jalil al-Nouri, a deputy to al-Sadr, who, according to Iranian news outlets, has said Iraq would defend the Islamic Republic if the US attacks and rejected the sanctions as "inhuman".
The MP also said there are some groups and parties in Iraq who are trying to exert influence on state officials and take the country to where it was under former dictator Saddam Hussein.
*** Visit Cancelled
Al-Abadi's press office said on Sunday that the prime minister has cancelled a visit to Iran, AFP reported.
He will still go ahead with a planned visit to Turkey on Tuesday but has scrapped the Iran leg of the trip "because of his busy schedule", his office said.
A Baghdad official had said on Saturday that al-Abadi would visit both neighboring Turkey and Iran to discuss economic issues.
On Saturday, the Foreign Ministry spokesman in Tehran, Bahram Qasemi, said he had "no official news or information about the trip".
