Best Defense
Thomas E. Ricks' daily take on national security.

Chuckles for Iranians

You can almost hear them chortling at the Islamic Republic News Agency as they pound this out: Baghdad, March 24, IRNA — Iran’s Ambassador to Baghdad said on Tuesday that the visit of Iran’s Majlis Speaker Ali Larijani to Iraq was non-official. Hassan Kazemi Qomi said Larijani traveled to Iraq to pay pilgrimage to the ...

587474_090325_larijaniB2.jpg
587474_090325_larijaniB2.jpg

You can almost hear them chortling at the Islamic Republic News Agency as they pound this out:

Baghdad, March 24, IRNA — Iran’s Ambassador to Baghdad said on Tuesday that the visit of Iran’s Majlis Speaker Ali Larijani to Iraq was non-official. Hassan Kazemi Qomi said Larijani traveled to Iraq to pay pilgrimage to the holy shrines of Shiite Imams in the city of Najaf in southern Iraq.

However, he said, the speaker is expected to meet a number of ranking clerics in Iraq.

Some Iraqi officials, too, have already said that Larijani is scheduled to meet with Iraqi officials in Baghdad at later stages of his visit…”

Sure, “non-official.” Whatever.

QASSEM ZEIN/AFP/Getty Images

Thomas E. Ricks covered the U.S. military from 1991 to 2008 for the Wall Street Journal and then the Washington Post. He can be reached at ricksblogcomment@gmail.com. Twitter: @tomricks1
Tags: Iran, Iraq

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