Iraq's political reforms help improve security: Minister

Iraq's recent political reforms have strengthened the country's security situation, and that helped to weed out the Islamic State (IS) militant group from some positions, Foreign Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari said Wednesday.

Jaafari made the remarks at a joint press conference with his Egyptian counterpart Sameh Shoukry who is on an official visit to Baghdad, Xinhua reported.

Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi's government has been in power for only months' time, and the city of Mousl is still in the hands of the IS militants, yet Iraq has made "great" progress in political reforms and the security situation is improving, he said.

He added that the IS terrorists have started to pull back.

Jaafari also told the reporters that the two foreign ministers discussed "the common menace (IS militant group) that threatens the region and the whole world."