By: Kayhan Int’l Staff Writer


The US is taking the government and people of Iraq for a ride on the assumption that the Land of the Two Rivers is a fertile ground for tomfoolery.
Washington, which failed to seize control of oil-rich and strategically situated Iraq through the macabre crimes of the takfiri terrorists it had created in complicity with Saudi Arabia, thinks that its devilish designs can succeed in weaning away Iraq from time immemorial and fraternal neighbour Iran.
This was evident by the recent claims of the US Energy Secretary Rick Perry on providing Iraq with Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG).
What a laughable statement by a senior official of the quixotic US president, Donald Trump the dotard, to say: "The US is well prepared to be a transparent, competitive and reliable source of liquefied natural gas to Iraq.”       !
Does Perry think that officials of the elected government in Baghdad are a bunch of ignorant bums ready to put their trust in the very same wolf that was a supporter of the bloodthirsty Saddam during the 8-year war against the Islamic Republic of Iran in the 1980s as well as the periodic bouts of massacre of the Shi’a Arab majority and the ethnic Kurds carried out by the US-backed Ba’th minority regime?
The Americans are no friends of the Iraqi people, and have no right to meddle in the affairs of Mesopotamia. If they think they can turn the Iraqi government in one of those pet poodles they have placed in neighbouring Arab states, they are living in a fool’s paradise.
The bonds between the Iraqi and Iranian peoples are too solid to be shaken by Uncle Sam’s machinations, in view of the fact they transcend history and historical developments. Moreover the two neighbouring countries are well aware of each other’s potentials and how best to continue their commercial, industrial, cultural, religious, and historical relations.
Trade transactions between Iran and Iraq currently stand at $12 billion, and are all set to reach $ 20 billion figure.
Iraq has made it clear time and again that it does not recognize the illegal economic sanctions the US has imposed on its friendly and fraternal neighbour which saved it from turning into ‘Takfiristan’.
So any talk of American pressures on Iraq in this regard is useless, and the two countries will continue to expand relations, whether Washington likes it or not.
As a matter of fact, the arrogant Americans are totally ignorant of the state of Iraq’s hydrocarbon resources,
True, Iraq has large proven natural gas reserves. Iraq is the world’s 13th largest holder of proven natural gas reserves which stand at 3,158 bcm. Yet it produces only a mere 0.9 bcm of marketable natural gas, most of which is re-injected to maintain crude oil production.
This means energy-starved Iraq is in dire need of natural gas supplies for running its industries and providing people with much needed fuel.
There may be several world countries possessing natural gas for sale, including Qatar in the Persian Gulf, but compared to Iran, which shares a lengthy border with Iraq, no gas imports could be as cheap and readily available as those from the Islamic Republic.
For this reason Tehran and Baghdad struck an agreement for supply of 35 million cubic meters of Iranian natural gas on a daily basis to the Iraqi capital city of Baghdad, and an additional 25 million cubic meters of gas per day to the port city of Basra.
Last June, Iran’s gas supply to Baghdad began at a rate of 7 million cubic meters per day, and as per the agreement, will soon increase to 35 million cubic meters daily.
If Perry and his colleagues in the thuggish administration of Trump have any sense they will stay out of Iraqi affairs. The Iraqi people do not like the criminal US, and the only reason the government of Baghdad is asking Washington to exempt it from any penalties in case of continuing trade with Iran, is out of diplomatic courtesy.
The Iraqis are preparing for the day to lawfully and legally kick out the remnants of American military personnel from Iraq, since like the Iranians they fully know as long as they adhere to the dynamic teachings of Islam as taught by the Prophet and his Infallible Ahl al-Bayt, the US cannot do a damn thing.