MOSCOW, November 23 (RIA Novosti) - Russia expects that a meeting between the Iraqi and Iranian presidents in Tehran November 25 will expedite Iraq's stabilization, a Russian diplomat said Thursday.
Following the U.S-led invasion of Iraq in 2003 and the consequent overthrow of Saddam Hussein's regime, Iraq sank into sectarian violence, and ongoing international efforts to restore peace and stability in the Middle East country has so far proved futile.
"Moscow certainly expects positive results from this important contact in Tehran," said Mikhail Kamynin, official spokesman for the Russian Foreign Ministry.
He called on other countries in the region, particularly Iraq's neighbors, to join international efforts to restore peace in the country.
"Besides political assistance for Iraq to attain internal accord, Iran has every opportunity to help Iraq with such specific issues as jointly enhancing the security of its borders, preventing the smuggling of arms and restoring Iraq's infrastructure," Kamynin said.
He said contacts between the two countries, which were embroiled in a war throughout the 1980s, have obviously developed since Hussein's regime was overthrown.
