Yawar Accuses Tehran and Damascus of Interference

When Al-Yawar spoke with the Cable News Network (CNN), he said yesterday: "I think that there are insurgents in Iraq coming from Syria. Iraqi authorities also think that Syria has deployed insurgents."

Iraqi President said that though the US mistakenly dissolved the Iraqi Army, former soldiers could join the new force. Al-Yawar also talked about his concerns about the Iranian influence on the general elections, which will be conducted on January 30, and accused Iran of interfering with Iraq’s internal affairs of Iraq.

The Sunni president went on: "We as Iraqis want to live in peace with all our neighbors. We do not want to export anything for them and we also do not want them to impose their ideologies on us – ideologies that have been ineffective for the past 25 years."

Iran rejected Al-Yawar’s claims, as well as the allegations of Jordan’s King Abdullah, who said, "Tehran intervenes in the internal affairs of Iraq to influence Iraqi election results."

A spokesman for the Iranian Foreign Ministry, Hamid-Reza Asefi, responded to the accusations in a speech: "Iraqi authorities consider Iran’s stand for taking efficient steps towards providing peace and stability in Iraq in the region."