Iran Unhappy With Maliki

How does one know when Maliki is doing the right thing? Well, for me at least, one of the prime indicators is when the major newspapers in Iran condemn Maliki as having "sold out" to the U.S.


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Apparently, Iran's mad mullahs are quite unhappy with Iraqi PM Nouri al Maliki. They see the invitation to the U.S. to remain in Iraq beyond the end of the U.N. mandate as inimical to their interests - which, of course, it very much is. Indeed, other than our Democrats, the only one's that want to see the U.S. abandon Iraq are Iran and Sadr. This from the Arabic news outlet Asharq Alawsat:

Iran has condemned the strategic agreement between Iraq and the United States describing it as turning Iraq into an American colony and also attacked in a rare public criticism Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki saying he has give in to the Americans.

Hussein Shariatmadari, Adviser to the Supreme Guide of Iran and editor of state-owned Kayhan Newspaper . . . said the strategic agreement between Iraq and the United States "is a return to the cold war between Iraq and Iran and the latter's isolation", adding that it turns Iraq into "an American satellite."

In an editorial entitled "Grand Deception" in Keyhan, which reflects the Iranian ruling establishment's view, Shariatmadari said the agreement denies the Iraqis self-determination and allows the United States to use the Iraqi territories, airspace, and territorial waters to attack countries in the region and also allows the Americans to remain in Iraq indefinitely.

Read the entire article. Unfortunately, to my understanding, all that is being negotiated between Iraq and the U.S. is a Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA), which does none of the things the Iranian editor and advisor enumerates. That said, the mere presence of U.S. troops on the Iranian border has got to be a major concern to the mad mullahs.