Iran's military denies incursion into Iraqi territories for oil well
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Iran's military on Saturday denied that its armed forces had entered Iraqi territories to take control of an oil well, saying the oil well in question is "inside Iran's territories," Iran's satellite channel Press TV reported.
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An Iraqi soldier takes up a sentry point overlooking one of Fakka wells near Amara, 300 km (186 miles) southeast of Baghdad, December 19, 2009. Iraq's oil industry will not be affected by a reported cross-border incursion by Iranian troops, which Iran denies, the government spokesman said on Saturday. [Xinhua/Reuters] |
"No incursion has taken place into the Iraqi territories... and the oil well in question is located inside Iran's territories," Iranian Armed Forces Deputy Chief of Staff Masoud Jazayeri was quoted as saying.
"Iran fully respects Iraq's territorial integrity and the two neighbors will resolve the problems through dialogue," he said.
Some Iraqi and Western media reported Friday that Iranian forces had crossed into Iraq and seized the No. 4 oil well from the al-Fakkah oilfield in Iraq's Maysan province.
Iraq's state-run al-Sabah newspaper on Saturday quoted the government spokesmen Ali al-Dabbagh as saying that the Iraqi Security Council has "stressed that the incident is a violation to Iraq's sovereignty and territories and called upon Iran to pull out its troops from the well."
Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast on Saturday rejected the reports as an attempt to harm the relations between the two neighboring countries, adding that Iran's foreign ministry and other relative bodies are now investigating the case.
The al-Fakkah oilfield was first drilled by Iraqis in 1979 as part of the Iraqi territories before the Iraqi-Iranian eight-year war in 1980.
However, the oilfield is now considered a shared one and both Iran and Iraq have the right to pump from it, but the Iraqis consider the well No. 4 theirs.
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