Parliament speake slams what he calls ‘immunity from justice’ for US troops in Iraq under security pact.




TEHRAN - Iran's parliament speaker Ali Larijani has denounced the Iraq-US deal on the future of American troops in the war-torn country as a mirage, the semi-official Fars news agency reported on Monday.

"The security deal will create numerous problems in the region and for the Iraqi people. This accord is a mirage," it quoted him as saying.

The Iraqi parliament is set to vote on the wide-ranging military pact on Wednesday. Under the deal, US troops would remain in Iraq for another three years after their UN mandate expires on December 31.

Larijani slammed what he called "immunity from justice" for US troops in Iraq under the pact, and said this violated Iraqi sovereignty.

He also said the agreement "does not guarantee that American forces will withdraw" from Iraq.

Hassan Ghashghavi, Iran's foreign ministry spokesman, said earlier on Monday he would not pass comment on the US-Iraq pact until after Wednesday's parliamentary vote in Baghdad.

The accord was approved by the Iraqi cabinet a week ago but has drawn fire from hardline nationalists who would prefer to see American troops out sooner than the end of 2011