Pat Dollard | Young Americans

Times Online:

President Ahmadinejad of Iran told the United States, Britain and other foreign powers yesterday to leave the region, at the end of a visit to Iraq that demonstrated Iran’s growing influence with its once bitter enemy.

Blaming outsiders for bringing destruction and humiliation, he oozed confidence as he emphasised his country’s renewed ties with its neighbour. Their links are now as much physical as political – Iran announced it had connected a town near Basra to its electricity supply. Lack of electricity is a top complaint in Basra despite five years of British attempts to solve the problem.

Mr Ahmadinejad’s message proved divisive. Iraq’s Shia-led Government, which enjoys a cozy relationship with Tehran, embraced every word but the once-dominant Sunni Arab minority held angry protests, accusing the President of fuelling the violence that has plagued their nation.

New Iranian-backed projects to build power plants in Shia-dominated cities in Iraq also drew accusations of sectarianism. Iran offered a $1 billion (£500 million) loan to Iraq for projects to be handled by Iranian companies as part of measures to strengthen ties. Mr Ahmadinejad also signed seven memorandums of understanding with Jalal Talabani, the Iraqi President, on industry, insurance, education, transport and Customs.

In a sign that any Iranian aid will focus on Shia areas of the country – a move that would aggravate further Sunni resentment – the Iranian Energy Minister announced a $200 million project to build a power station for the holy Shia cities of Kerbala and Najaf. A second power station is also planned for Baghdad’s Shia slum of Sadr City.

The projects highlight the failure of the US adequately to rebuild Iraq’s power infrastructure despite spending billions of dollars since the war.

Mr Ahmedinejad had harsh words for Washington and London at a parting news conference after two days of talks with Iraqi leaders who did everything in their power to make him feel welcome. “We believe that the powers that came from overseas, from thousands of kilometres away, must leave the region and let the governments and the people govern their own countries,” he said through a translator.

“Those who came from distant places will gain nothing but hatred.” Asked about repeated accusations by Washington that Tehran supports Shia militias that kill US soldiers and weaken the Iraqi Government, Mr Ahmadinejad said that he did not care about such charges because they were based on falsehoods. “It has been proven to us that when the Americans say something they rely on mistaken information. That is why we can’t take what they say into consideration,” he said.

The US-led invasion to topple Saddam, a Sunni Arab who led his country into an eight-year war against the Islamic Republic, has enabled Iran and Iraq, both countries with Shia majorities, to reestablish their natural bonds. Many of the new Iraqi leaders sought refuge across the border during the former regime and speak good Farsi. A lot of Sunni Arabs, however, resent the growing Iranian influence in Iraq, particularly in the Shia-saturated southern provinces, fearing that Iran is exerting an unhealthy amount of control. Hundreds of protesters in a largely Sunni neighborhood of Baghdad held a demonstration brandishing placards, one of which read: “Your mortars preceded your visit.”

Nabil Mohammed Saleem, a professor of international relations at Baghdad University, said that the location of the developments could have been chosen to ensure the security of the Iranian contractors. Iraq rather than Iran may have specified where it wanted the projects to take place.

“But I still believe that it’s an obvious mistake to do so at this time because the situation in Iraq is already inflamed. You don’t want to bring more congestion to the ground by such provocative behaviour,” he said.

Mr Ahmadinejad ended his historic tour in much the same way as it began, with a military band, a guard of honour, a red carpet and a speeding motorcade to whisk him back to Baghdad airport for his plane home. Despite tight security, two car bombs exploded in separate parts of the city.