Iraq against being used for strikes on Syria

Iraq has expressed its opposition to the probability of being used as a launch pad to carry out strikes on Syria where the government is facing allegations of using chemical weapons against its civilians.

Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said Sunday that his country will not be a launch pad for strikes on neighbour Syria, Xinhua reported. He instead stressed on finding a peaceful solution to the prevailing Syrian crisis.

"Iraq will not be a launch pad to any aggression against Syria, and we will not provide any facilities in this respect and we are working with some states to apply a peaceful solution to the Syrian crisis," Zebari said during a joint press conference with his Iranian counterpart Mohammad-Javad Zarif.

The minster said it after Iraq and Iran Sunday held bilateral talks during which regional situation and the developments on the Syrian crisis were discussed.

The Iranian minister, meanwhile, said that US President Barack Obama "has entered the trap of war on Syria -- pushed by some parties -- and we wish him to come out of the trap for the interests of himself and for the region as well."

"Those who are short-sighted are beating the drums of war and are setting a fire that will burn everyone in the region," the Iranian minister, who arrived in Iraq on an official visit earlier in the day, added.

Iraq and Iran fought an eight-year war in the 1980s that left about one million people dead.