The draft US-Iraq security accord is aimed at keeping Iraq weak to help America "pillage" the country, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Thursday. "The Americans have shown that they do not respect any agreement and, if their interests require it, they are ready to sacrifice their closest friends," he was quoted by state news agency IRNA as saying.
"They do not distinguish among Shiites, Sunnis and Kurds. They want to prevent the creation of a strong and powerful Iraq, the better to pillage the country," Ahmadinejad said.
He was speaking during a visit by Massud Barzani, leader of the autonomous Kurdish region in northern Iraq. Barzani has defended the agreement, saying it is better than the status quo. Other Iranian leaders joined Ahmadinejad in denouncing the proposed pact on Thursday, including Ali Larijani, speaker of parliament, and Interior Minister Ali Kordan.
"The Americans' aim was to make sure the Iraqi government is second rate. This is why Iraqi public figures do not defend the agreement and have expressed reservations," Larijani said in comments reported by Mehr news agency. He criticised a clause in the deal which shields American military personnel from Iraqi justice if they commit crimes on their bases or while on a mission. "It is a capitulation," he said, comparing the pact with an agreement signed by the United States and the former Iranian imperial regime, which was ferociously denounced by the Shah's opponents.
Kordan, speaking in Amman at a meeting of interior ministers of war-ravaged Iraq's neighbours, said Tehran opposes any document that threatens Iraqi interests. "Iran opposes any document that goes against the will of Iraqis and their leadership," he said. "Iran opposes any document that would threaten Iraq's interests."
Meanwhile, Grand Ayatollah Kazem al-Hosseini al-Haeri, a senior Shiite religious figure said to be the mentor of fiercely anti-American Iraqi cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, denounced the draft accord as "humiliating" for Iraq. "We are aware of the pressures from the occupying forces on the Iraqi government to sign the humiliating security agreement... We know that this agreement will lead to loss of sovereignty and humiliation" for Iraqis, he said in a statement carried by IRNA.
Iran-born Haeri moved to Iraq and became one of the leaders of the Shiite Al-Dawa party before being forced into exile in the 1970s. Since then he has lived in the holy town of Qom, 150 kilometres (100 miles) south of Tehran. "In earlier statements we already said this agreement is 'haram'," something banned by Islam, Haeri said.
Sadr, reputed to be living in Iran, is a strong opponent of the US presence in Iraq and has consistently opposed the deal since it was proposed last year. The Baghdad government on Tuesday said it wants to modify the draft final agreement, which took months to negotiate and which projects the complete withdrawal of US troops by the end of 2011.
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