TEHRAN -- A senior advisor to Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei said Sunday the United States must leave the West Asia region as it only seeks to weaken and ultimately disintegrate Muslim countries.
Ali Akbar Velayati made the remarks in a meeting with the former Iraqi prime minister, Adel Abdul-Mahdi, in Tehran where he touched on plots hatched by foreign enemies, the United States in particular, against regional countries.
“Americans must leave the region because they are constantly hatching plots and taking hostile acts with the goal of weakening and disintegrating Muslim countries and sowing discord among the Islamic Ummah,” Velayati said.
He also welcomed the Iraqi parliament’s recent election of a new president, saying such an achievement would clear the way for the Arab country “to play an effective role as one of the most important states in the region and the Muslim and Arab worlds.”
Iraqi lawmakers on Thursday elected Abdul Latif Rashid as the Arab country’s new president, who immediately named a prime minister, thus breaking a months-long political deadlock and paving the way for the formation of a new government.
“Iraq is now in its strongest position,” the Leader’s advisor said, stressing that Iran and other Resistance Front countries undoubtedly need to reinforce their unity.
The former Iraqi prime minister, for his part, said enemies had made great efforts to hatch plots with the purpose of undermining unity between Iran and Iraq.
Abdul-Mahdi described the assassinations of Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, senior Iranian and Iraqi anti-terror commanders, as well as prominent Iranian scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, as the peak of plots against the two neighboring countries.
He said despite all those enmities, the arrogant enemy is getting weaker day by day and is nearing its collapse.
The top Iraqi figure commended Iran’s efforts to promote stability and security in the region and said the recent expansion of Iran’s relations with Russia, China and other countries heralds the emergence of a new global order.
Iran has become the top power in the region despite enemies’ efforts to isolate the Islamic Republic, he added.