Former Iranian President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani has thrown his weight behind Iraqi Shiites who have been holding weekly protests against a proposed U.S.-Iraqi security pact.
"Americans persistently want to impose the agreement, which surely does not support the interests of Iraq and is harmful to the future of Iraq," Rafsanjani said in Tehran. "God willing, the Iraqi nation — with the awareness and leadership of clerics and the awareness of the Iraqi government — will not allow such a miserable event to happen."
Rafsanjani heads two of Iran's most powerful clerical governing bodies, the Expediency Council and the Assembly of Experts.
Here's the Associated Press on the proposed agreement:
The proposed agreement, which has been under negotiation for most of this year, would replace the U.N. mandate. Any agreement must be ratified by the Iraqi parliament.
The main sticking points include Iraqi objections to blanket immunity for U.S. troops and private contractors and demands for oversight over American forces during raids and detentions.
With time running out, a U.S. negotiating team led by top State Department adviser David Satterfield returned this week to Iraq to continue talks.
The deal faces fierce public opposition in Iraq led by the Sadrists, whose leader is believed to be in Iran.
Protesters emerged from Friday prayers in Baghdad's main Shiite stronghold of Sadr City and the holy city of Kufa, chanting "No to the occupation" and "No to America" and raising pictures of al-Sadr and Iraqi flags.
Supporters believe the deal would help assure Iraq's Arab neighbors that Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's Shiite-led government would not become a satellite of Shiite-dominated Iran as the American military role here fades.
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