TEHRAN, Sept. 27 (Xinhua) -- Iraqi army's Chief of Staff Othman al-Ghanemi said Wednesday that Iran will remain on the side of Iraq until achieving final victory of restoring stability, the Tasnim news agency reported.
Al-Ghanemi made the remarks in a meeting with his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Baqeri, the report said.
"We believe that the Islamic republic has ever been by the side of Iraq and will do so in future until the restoration of stability in Iraq," al-Ghanemi said.
For his part, Baqeri hailed the recent victories of Iraqi army in its counterterrorism war, saying "we are very happy to witness that the annihilation of terrorism is imminent in Iraq."
Al-Ghanemi, leading a top military delegation, arrived in Tehran on Wednesday to exchange views with the Iranian officials on enhancing defense cooperation.
Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said earlier on Wednesday that Iraq's military cooperation with Iran and Turkey is aimed at protecting regional security.
The trip came against the backdrop of an independence referendum held in Iraq's Kurdistan region on Monday, which has been strongly criticized by both Baghdad and Tehran.
