TEHRAN — The Iranian Ambassador to Baghdad, Iraj Masjedi, has said the U.S. bases in Iraq will be probably shut down in the future.

Neither Iran nor the U.S. can be removed from Iraq, but the U.S. bases might be eliminated from the country in the future, Masjedi said, according to Mehr.

He made the remarks on Tuesday at a meeting to review political developments in neighboring Iraq.

“I believe that Iraq has reached a new stage. Occupation, ISIS, and insecurity were the three stages that the country had already gone through, and the Islamic Republic played a key role in tackling all of them which all Iraqi officials admitted,” the ambassador pointed out.

Masjedi said that Iraq is currently seeking a balance between the two main actors, namely Iran and the U.S., and is trying to utilize the capabilities of the two countries.

He went on to say that both Iran and Iraq believe that the U.S. and the Zionist regime seek hegemonic policies.  

Back in April, spokesman for the commander-in-chief of the Iraqi armed forces revealed that Baghdad and Washington will start talks on the exit of U.S. forces from Iraq in June.

In an interview with the Al Sabaah newspaper, Major General Abdul Karim Khalaf said in line with a resolution by the Iraqi parliament to remove U.S. forces from Iraq the two countries will start detailed talks in June on a complete removal of U.S. forces based on a time schedule.  

Following the assassination of top Iranian military commander Qassem Soleimani and Iraqi Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) deputy commander Abu-Mahdi al-Muhandis in a terrorist attack by the U.S. military on June 3 in Baghdad’s international airport, the Iraqi parliament voted for a resolution on January 5 tasking the government to order the expulsion of U.S. forces from Iraq.

MH/PA