Iran's state-run media says acting Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi has told Iraqi officials that foreign powers must leave their country as soon as possible.
He commented Wednesday during a Baghdad news conference with Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari, in what is Salehi's first trip to Iraq since its new government was sworn in last month.
Iran's IRNA news agency quotes Salehi as saying Tehran believes in Iraq's "territorial integrity, stability and independence." He also said Iraq could guarantee its independence without foreign forces.
Last August, the U.S. formally ended a combat mission in Iraq that began when coalition forces moved into Baghdad during the 2003 Gulf War. About 50,000 U.S. troops remain in the country. U.S. President Barack Obama says all U.S. troops will leave Iraq by the end of this year.