Two nations that always friends

Two nations who have always been friends

The Iranian and Iraqi people have always been close friends. However, the global powers have never found this friendly bond to be to their benefit and have repeatedly tried to disrupt it. One famous example of such attempts is the eight-year Imposed War on Iran. The following Op-Ed tries to shed light on both the scope and depth of Iranian-Iraqi relations. Maulana Muhammad Hafizi Hozour, the intellectual leader of the Bangladeshi Muslims, was one of the Muslim scholars who came to Iran on September 7, 1982 during the Imposed War on Iran. He made an interesting proposal during a meeting with the then President, Ayatollah Khamenei. He expressed regret over the war between the two Muslim countries and satisfaction with the victory of the Islamic combatants. He didn’t know much about Saddam and optimistically said, "The only solution to this conflict is to establish an Islamic state in Iraq. In my visit to Iraq, I will suggest this to Saddam.” Maulana Hafizi then made a request to Ayatollah Khamenei saying, "If Iraq accepts our firm and explicit proposal and an Islamic system is established in that country, will Iran also accept a ceasefire?"
While welcoming the proposal of Maulana Muhammad Hafizi, the Supreme Leader of the Revolution made a strategic statement, which was actually realized after the fall of Saddam Hussein. He said, "If Iraq becomes Islamic, we will not only agree to a ceasefire, but also if necessary, we will make all our resources available to Iraq. If Iraq becomes Islamic, our oil, money and facilities will also be available to Iraq. If Iraq becomes Islamic, we will not be at war with them to need to accept a ceasefire."
This strategic message, a sign of the honesty and foresight of the Supreme Leader of the Revolution, indicated that for the friendship of the people of Iran and Iraq, language, ethnicity and nationality are not a barrier and Islam is the ring that links the two nations.

Writer: Khamenei .ir