Tehran, October 18: Iraqi PM Nuri al-Maliki visited Tehran on Monday to garner support for his premiership bid, as his chief rival Iyad Allawi accused Iran of meddling in Baghdad’s political affairs.
Maliki flew to Tehran from Amman and went straight into a meeting with Iran’s first vice president Mohammad Reza Rahimi, according to local media which added that he was later to hold talks with other Iranian officials.
Maliki had been in Jordan yesterday as part of his tour of Middle East capitals aimed at drumming up support as he fights to keep his job after an inconclusive March 7 general election.
His Shiite-led State of Law bloc finished a narrow second behind Allawi’s mainly Sunni-backed Iraqiya alliance but neither came close to securing a parliamentary majority in the vote.
Allawi, who has looked to support from Gulf Arab states led by Saudi Arabia which he visited earlier this month, at the weekend renewed accusations that Iran is meddling in the drawn-out coalition talks in Baghdad.
“We know that unfortunately Iran is trying to wreak havoc on the region, and trying to destabilise the region by destabilising Iraq, and destabilising Lebanon and destabilising the Palestinian issue,” Allawi told CNN on Sunday.
“And this is where unfortunately Iraq and the rest of the greater Mideast is falling victim to these terrorists who are definitely Iran-financed and supported by various governments in the region.”
—PTI—