BAGHDAD - Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharazi, on a visit to Baghdad Tuesday, promised not to draw Iraq into its row with Washington.
"We do not want Iraq to be a place for us to settle our differences with the United States," Kharazi said at a press conference with his Iraqi counterpart, Hoshyar Zebari.
"Whatever our relations with the United States may be, we think it is our duty to assist the Iraqi people," said Kharazi.
"Our cooperation with Iraq is not tied to our relations with the United States and we want to strenghten the historical relations between Iraq and Iran.
"Therefore the assistance we can bring to the Iraqi people and government is in the regional interest of the Islamic republic," he added.
Kharazi became the highest-ranking Iranian official to visit Iraq since the fall of Tehran's former arch-foe Saddam Hussein two years ago and the first Muslim foreign minister to come since the landmark January 30 elections.
US military officials and Iyad Allawi's now-defunct US-appointed administration had repeatedly accused Tehran of seeking to destabilise their old enemy by letting armed militants infiltrate Iraq.
Kharazi stressed that he had wanted to make his trip before US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice -- who made a surprise visit on Sunday -- but explained that it had to be delayed for logistical reasons.
His remarks came a day after Washington again threatened to drag Iran in front of the United Nations Security Council over its nuclear programme.
US President George W. Bush, who has lumped Iran into an an "axis of evil", describes the country as the world's main sponsor of terrorism and accuses it of seeking nuclear weapons.
05/17/2005 16:30 GMT