TEHRAN Ñ Iran’s top diplomat in Baghdad presented his credentials to Iraqi President Jalal Talabani as his nation’s first ambassador to Iraq in more than 25 years, the official Islamic Republic News Agency reported.

The promotion of Hassan Kazemi-Qomi, who had already been Tehran’s leading diplomat in Iraq, indicates an improvement in official relations between the nations, which have been at the lower diplomatic level of charges d’affaires since ambassadors were withdrawn shortly before the Iran-Iraq war of 1980 to 1988.

“Upgrading the level of relations between the two countries will open a new page in the history of ties between the two countries,” IRNA quoted Talabani as telling Kazemi-Qomi upon receiving his credentials Tuesday night.

Talabani also said Iraq wanted Iran to help in reconstruction efforts, according to IRNA.
latimes.com

This entry was posted on Saturday, May 13th, 2006 at 6:19 am and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.