Foreign-backed terror key threat to region: Iran official

A top Iranian official says the spillover of foreign-backed terrorism seriously jeopardizes security in the Middle East.

“The spread of sponsored terrorism is the most major threat to regional security,” said Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) Ali Shamkhani in a meeting with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maleki in Tehran on Wednesday.

Shamkhani noted that Iraq’s security will have a “direct impact” on the region’s security developments.

“Insecurity is a virus that, after its formation, will not only contaminate the environment, but its creators will also not be immune from its consequences,” Shamkhani added.

He further touched upon Tehran-Baghdad economic cooperation which, he said, will increase common interests and boost security for both nations.

Prime Minister Maleki, for his part, underlined the key role that both neighboring countries play in “the political, economic and security equations of the region” and said, “The most pressing need of our crisis-hit region today is the expansion of cooperation among the nations that believe stability and security are contingent upon understanding and friendship.”

He said Iraq is ready to forge closer ties with Iran on all fronts, calling for the removal of any obstacles in the way of implementing joint agreements.