The Real News Network

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's recent three-day visit to Iran focused on discussions with Iranian officials regarding a proposed US/Iraq agreement which will maintain an American military presence in Iraq for years to come. 

Iran, which has repeatedly said that the way to end instability in Iraq is for US forces to withdraw, believes that the proposed security pact could lead to permanent US bases on its doorsteps, amidst fears of an eventual American attack.

Regional sentiment throws the goals of the Bush administration into question.  Lebanese paper The Daily Star reports: "Bush's last-ditch bid to make Iraq a protectorate isn't fooling anyone… what the Bush administration really wanted was fuller access to cheap oil and a new base from which to dominate the Middle East."

In the face of weekly protests against the "Status Of Forces Agreement" within Iraq and strong criticisms in parliament, even from members of al-Maliki's own Shiite dominated coalition, al-Maliki continues his attempts encourage Iranian leaders to back down from their fierce opposition to the proposed pact, promising that Iraq would not be a launching pad for any attack on Iran.

The Real News Network's senior analyst Aijaz Ahmed says trying to persuade the Iranians to accept this is unlikely.  "What the US wants is bases, vast bases, in Iraq in perpetuity with limited sovereignty for any Iraqi government present or future which will have no control, jurisdiction or operation on these troops," says Ahmed. The desperate effort to get Iran behind it is a lost cause as Iran "will never approve of US bases so close to their border."

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