Special to WorldTribune.com

NICOSIA — Iraq, a major recipient of U.S. aid, has signed a military cooperation accord with neighboring Iran.

Iran and Iraq have signed a memorandum of understanding meant to rebuild Baghdad’s military. Officials said the MoU would focus on forming Iranian-trained Iraq Army units that would battle Islamic State of Iraq and Levant.

“They agreed to continue cooperation in the defense arena with the creation of a national army to protect the territorial integrity and security of Iraq,” an Iranian government statement said.

The MoU was signed on Dec. 30 during the visit by Iraqi Defense Minister Khaled Al Obeidi in Teheran. Officials said Al Obeidi reviewed Iraqi military requirements with his Iranian counterpart, Hussin Dahqan.

“The two sides stressed the need for consultations to ensure security, because terrorism affects not only security in Iraq but security throughout the region,” the Iranian statement said.

Iraq has not detailed the terms of the MoU, signed amid an accelerated U.S. effort to reorganize the Iraqi military. In December 2014, Washington praised Iranian military help to Baghdad as well as Iranian air strikes on ISIL in the Diyala province.

“We do not see any other option than cooperation and being on the same side [with Iran] to uproot the terrorists,” Al Obeidi told a joint news conference. “We assume Iran’s increased support for the Iraqi armed forces as a strategic necessity.”

About 5,000 Iranian troops under the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps were said to be helping the Iraqi military. On Dec. 28, a top IRGC commander, Maj. Gen. Hamid Taghavi was buried after being shot by an ISIL sniper in Samara.

“The enemy will certainly seek to create insecurity in our country,” Iranian Supreme National Security Council secretary Ali Shamkhani said.

  U.S.-backed Iraq signs military accord with Iran as ‘strategic necessity’