Iraqi PM congratulates Rouhani on Iranian presidency

Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al- Maliki extended congratulations to Hassan Rouhani over his victory in the Iranian presidential elections, the Iraqi government said Tuesday. During the phone call late on Monday between Maliki and the Iranian president-elect Rouhani, the two leaders "expressed their determination to develop bilateral relations in order to serve the interests of the two peoples and the two neighboring countries, so as to enhance security and stability in the region," the government official said in a statement posted on Maliki's office website. On Saturday, Iran's moderate candidate Hassan Rouhani won the presidential election by garnering 50.71 percent of the votes, far ahead of his rivals. Ties between the Shiite Muslim country of Iran and the Shiite- dominated government of Iraq have been picked up considerably since the ouster of Saddam Hussein's Sunni-dominated administration in a U.S.-led invasion in 2003. Iraq and Iran fought a bloody eight-year war in the 1980s, resulting in the loss of 1 million lives.