Tehran: Iraqi Prime Minister Haider Al Abadi held talks with key ally Iran on Thursday as his forces launched an offensive against Daesh’s last bastion in the country.
Independently of Washington, Tehran has poured significant resources into the war against the terrorists in Iraq, providing weapons, advice and training to the Shiite militias which dominate the key paramilitary Hashed Al Shaabi (Popular Mobilisation) force.
Al Abadi held morning talks with First Vice-President Eshaq Jehangiri ahead of meetings with other top leaders.
Buoyed by the success of the campaign against the terrorists, who have now been virtually confined to a stretch of the Euphrates valley straddling the border with Syria, Abadi has been on a regional tour that on Wednesday saw him in Ankara.
High on the agenda of his talks has been his bitter dispute with the Kurds over the spoils of the fightback against Daesh.
Kurdish leaders held a referendum on independence last month to the fury not only of Baghdad but also of neighbouring Iran and Turkey which have long been fearful of anything that might stoke separatist sentiment among their own large Kurdish minorities.
