Iran vowed Tuesday long term support to Iraq in its fight against the Islamic State militants.
Iran's President Hassan Rouhani told visiting Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar al Abadi that Iran has supported Iraq from the beginning and will continue to do so till the end, the Associated Press reported citing official IRNA news agency.
Rouhani also said that the Islamic State militants can be defeated only by greater regional cooperation between the affected countries.
"We have no doubt that boosting friendly relations between Iran and Iraq will secure the interests of both countries and will serve the interests of the region," he said. "Regional countries should confront terrorism in a united and coordinated way in order to uproot this phenomenon," he said, AP reports.
Abadi, who is on his first foreign visit since assuming charge in September, said that selecting Iran as his first destination shows the depth of the relation between the two countries.
Noting that terrorism was a threat to all regional countries, Abadi said that Iraq was certain that Iran will support it in the fight against the militants.
Meanwhile, Iran's television Monday accused Turkey over the death of Lebanese-American journalist Serena Shim in a car crash, while working for Iran's Press TV in Turkey near the Syrian border town of Kobani.
Shim died Sunday after her car collided with a heavy vehicle, Turkish media reports.
"Her death is very suspect and it is likely an outcome of her critical expository reports of the adverse impact of Turkish and Saudi policies on Syrian refugees," said Hamid Reza Emadi, the head of Press TV's newsroom, Reuters reports.
However, Izzettin Kucuk - the governor of the Turkish province where the crash occurred - said that the allegations were completely wrong and Turkey will issue a statement after the investigations are over.
