Maj. Gen. Salami made the remarks in a meeting with Iraqi Defense Minister Thabet Mohammad Saeed Al-Abbasi in Tehran on Monday.

He underlined the need to protect Iraq’s unity and integrity, and stated that the IRGC is prepared to offer advisory assistance to Iraq, exchange its experiences and achievements in the fight against terrorism, and provide training for various units of the Iraqi Armed Forces.

The military official underscored the importance of “stable, safe and strong neighbors” for Iran.

"While the Islamic Republic favors a mighty Iraq, the Americans and the Zionists seek to dominate the region and create insecurity in Iraq and Iran," Salami stressed.

"Insecurity would prevail wherever the US is present," the IRGC chief warned, adding that the logic behind Iran’s push for the expulsion of American forces from the region is that the oppressed regional people have to pay the price for the US’ opportunistic policies.

He also called for the promotion of military, defense and security cooperation between Tehran and Baghdad.

The Iraqi defense minister, for his part, called for the enhancement of cooperation with Iran as the government in Baghdad is determined to strengthen the Arab country’s defense power.

Al-Abbasi said Iraq is eager to use Iran’s experiences in the military and defense spheres, calling for closer interaction with Iran to tighten security along the common border.

Iraq is willing to dispatch expert and technical teams to Iran for training cooperation, he added.

Iranian military officials have repeatedly expressed the country’s readiness to share its experiences in the war on terrorism and in the defense industry with Iraq to help the neighboring state’s security and stability.

The US invaded Iraq in early 2003 under the later debunked pretext that the regime of Saddam Hussein possessed weapons of mass destruction. It withdrew soldiers from Iraq between 2007 and 2011 but redeployed them in 2014 along with other partners to allegedly counter the threat of the Daesh (also known as ISIS or ISIL) terrorist group.

Iraq managed to end the territorial rule of the outfit in the country thanks to the sacrifices of the national army as well as the anti-terror Popular Mobilization Units (PMU), which had the backing of Iran.

However, Washington kept its forces inside Iraq in defiance of a resolution that required its withdrawal. The resolution was passed by the Arab country’s parliament on January 5, 2020, two days after the US assassinated Iran’s anti-terror commander Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani and his Iraqi trenchmate Abu Mahdi Al-Muhandis, the Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) deputy head.

The US military declared the end of its combat mission in Iraq in December 2021, but it still maintains a number of troops there under the guise of playing an advisory role.