US Meddling Foments Tension in Region

RNA - "The US bases do not serve anyone in the region and we are interested in resolving our problems with the Saudis and welcome any mediation, including by Iraq, in this respect" Masjedi said in an interview with the Arabic-language al-Forat news website on Saturday.

He added that the US withdrawal from the region will benefit the Americans themselves because their meddling has created tension in the regional states.

Masjedi, meantime, stressed that the Iraqi people should be the only one to decide their fate and Iran does not dictate its wishes to anyone.

Iraq's parliament last month voted to have the US troops removed from the country, heeding a call from former Prime Minister Adil Abdul Mahdi to take urgent measures and end the foreign forces presence as soon as possible.

The Iraqi Parliament passed a resolution to work to end the foreign troop presence in the Arab country in the wake of a US targeted assassination of a top Iranian general and a commander of Iraqi popular forces.

According to Fars News Agency, the resolution, which was passed anonymously, instructed the government to cancel a request for military assistance to the US-led coalition, which was issued in response to the rise of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (known as ISIL, ISIS or Daesh) terror group.

"The government commits to revoke its request for assistance from the international coalition fighting the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant due to the end of military operations in Iraq and the achievement of victory," the resolution read, adding, "The Iraqi government must work to end the presence of any foreign troops on Iraqi soil and prohibit them from using its land, airspace or water for any reason."

The resolution stated that Iraqi military leadership has to report the number of foreign instructors that are necessary for Iraqi national security.

Earlier, Abdul Mahdi had requested that parliament order the withdrawal of foreign troops from the country.

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