Iraq not to let US harm Iran ties: President

President Fuad Massoum says Iraq will not allow its ties with certain countries, including the US, damage relations with Iran which he described as Baghdad's "brother".

“We seek strong ties with Iran. Our ties with the Islamic Republic are an important issue. Rarely is there a country with which we maintain such ties as we have with Iran,” he told Iran’s Tasnim news agency in an interview published Sunday.

“Although Iraq maintains ties with the US and other world countries, we do not want those ties to contradict the ones with Iran. We do not want our ties with other countries to damage the type of relations we have with Iran,” he added.

The relations, Massoum said, were "increasingly moving towards becoming strategic.”

"There are countries which are our friends. Some of these countries are markedly friendlier but there are countries which we regard as our brother. Iran is a brotherly and friendly nation to us," he added. 

Massoum recalled that the Islamic Republic had been supporting Iraqis ever since the embryonic stage of Daesh’s terror campaign in the Arab country.

"We are in need of this support, capability and expertise (of the Iranians). This support has been very important to us and clarified many things to us," he said. 

SS