Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said Monday his country is, as it has always been, interested in expansion of relations with Iran.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said Monday his country is, as it has always been, interested in expansion of relations with Iran.

According to IRNA Audio-Visual Monitoring Service, the Iraqi news TV Al-Sharqiya further quoted Prime Minister al-Maliki as saying that “Iraq is interested in comprehensive expansion of relations with its good neighbor, Iran, in line with preserving the two neighboring nations’ interests.”

The Iraqi TV reported that Maliki made his remarks in a meeting with the visiting head of the Iranian Parliament’s National Security and Foreign Relations Committee Ala’eddin Boroujerdi in Baghdad.

“Iraq is trying to further expand its relations with entire countries around the globe, particularly with its neighbors, like the Islamic Republic of Iran,” Maliki added.

For his part, Boroujerdi announced in the meeting Tehran’s readiness to improve the level of cooperation with Baghdad in line with preserving both countries’ interests.

Iran has an embassy in Baghdad and three consulate generals in Sulaimaniya, Arbil and Holy Najaf.

Iran–Iraq relations have been improved since the fall of Iraq's former dictator Saddam Houssein in 2003.

Since January 2010, the two countries have signed over 100 economic and cooperation agreements.

Iran has also headed numerous reconstruction projects in Iraq. Economic cooperation between Iran and Iraq continues to increase, and in 2011, Iraq, Iran and Syria signed a 10 billion dollar natural gas deal in which the three countries have agreed to construct a pipeline originating in southern Iran and extending to Syria.

The Iranian officials have indicated that the pipeline would eventually extend to the Mediterranean region countries through Lebanon.