Mohammad Javad Zarif made the remarks during a joint presser with his Iraqi counterpart, Hoshyar Zebari, in Baghdad on Sunday.
âWe support the Iraqi peopleâ™s choice and respect Iraqi peopleâ™s decision. We have never interfered in Iraqâ™s affairs and will never do that. We support Abadi to the extent that we supported [Iraqâ™s outgoing premier]
Nouri al-Maliki... Prime Minister of Iraq and the secretary-general of the Islamic Dawa Party. Maliki imposed order on Basra wen the Shiites were going nuts, but has proven incapable of dealing with al-Qaeda's Sunni insurgency. Reelected to his third term in 2014...
,â Zarif said.
He expressed satisfaction with the current political trend in Iraq and wished success for Abadi in forming a new government in the Arab country.
The top Iranian diplomat also ensured that the Islamic Theocratic
Republicwill continue to stand by the Iraqi people as was the case in the past.
Zarif further rejected the presence of Iranian forces in Iraq, saying, the Iraqis are capable of defending themselves.
Elsewhere in his remarks, he voiced satisfaction over expansion of bilateral ties between Tehran and Baghdad and expressed hope for the continuation of the two countriesâ™ cooperation in various fields.