"The Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said in remarks published Monday that there were profound differences between his country and Iran on the demarcation of land and water between them.
Zebari said in an interview with Iraqi television channel Al-Sharqiyah that the old tensions between the two countries have not been resolved, despite the improvement in bilateral ties since the ouster of former President Saddam Hussein.
Zebari said, "We have very big problems with the Iranian side with respect to the delimitation and demarcation of land border and river and sea."
He added, "We also have problems on the Shatt al-Arab. We have attempted to persuade Iran to solve these problems together in order to avoid trouble."
The problem of demarcation of the border in the Shatt al-Arab waterway contributed largely to fuel the flames of eight-year war between the two countries in the last century.
The relations between the two countries have witnessed a marked improvement after the ouster of the former Iraqi regime in 2003, but still some of the tensions exist, including the U.S. presence in Iraq and its support for the government of Nouri al-Maliki.
