BAGHDAD -- Iran's president began a historic visit here yesterday, decrying the presence of foreign troops and subtly criticizing American allies.
In meetings with Iraq's leaders, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad outlined his nation's plans to consolidate economic ties with Iraq, speaking within earshot of roaring U.S. helicopters taking off from Landing Zone Washington in the nearby Green Zone.
Nearly five years after the U.S.-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein, Ahmadinejad's visit underscored the realignment of Iraq from a country that once fought Iran in a grinding war to one increasingly within Tehran's economic, political and cultural orbit of influence.
In his public appearances, Ahmadinejad conveyed a message of friendship and warm ties between Iran and Iraq despite the presence of 160,000 U.S. troops here.
"Iran and Iraqi are two friendly nations," Ahmadinejad said at one of several appearances before the news media. "Both have common history and civilization. Both of them have deep, intimate sentimental and social relations."
Ahmadinejad's visit, set to end today, was largely billed as a mission about business.
According to Iraqi and Iranian officials, private subjects of conversation included the expansion of trade ties, the creation of cross-border industrial zones, the exchange of technical expertise, the integration of banking systems and the launching of joint investment projects in the oil, electricity, transport and heavy industry sectors.
Iran-Iraq trade already totals $8 billion a year. Tehran is now offering Iraq a $1 billion loan in goods and services provided through Iranian companies.
Most of the Iranians in Ahmadinejad's entourage were experts in the fields of economy and energy, rather than security, said Mohammad Marandi, the head of North American studies at Tehran University.
"The more two neighboring countries are integrated economically, the less will be the chance of war breaking out between them," he said.
The visit was protested by some Sunni Arab groups that resent the influence that Shiite Muslim and ethnically Persian Iran has amassed in Iraq in recent years. Sunnis dominated Iraq under Hussein.
The Kirkuk Iraqi Front, a Sunni group in northern Iraq, released a statement likening Iran to "a poisoned dagger in the chest of Iraqis."
The visit comes as the United Nations Security Council prepares to take up another U.S. and European proposal to impose sanctions against Iran for pursuing sensitive nuclear technology that can be used for a weapons program.
"Iran needs a window through which it can rise in the world," said Amer Hassan Fayadh, a political science professor at Baghdad University. "It finds in Iraq the best window through which it can appear [strong] to the world, especially at a time when it is looking to get out of crises and bottlenecks in its relationships with the international community."
The Iranian leader mostly steered clear of controversial remarks, though he took a swipe at the United States.
"The Americans have to understand the facts of the region," said Ahmadinejad, speaking at a news conference with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. "Iraqi people do not like America."
Ahmadinejad blamed the United States for the violence in Iraq and rejected allegations made by U.S. and Iraqi officials that Tehran had contributed to Iraq's chaos by providing weapons and training to militias.
Ahmadinejad chided Sunni Arab countries such as Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Jordan for not fully embracing Iraq's Shiite-led government. No Arab country has posted a full ambassador to Iraq.
Iran and Iraq fought an eight-year war during the 1980s that left up to a 1 million people dead. But there was no sign of lingering animosity during the visit. Iran sheltered many Shiite leaders of the current Baghdad government during Hussein's rule.
U.S. troops, who usually form the bulk of protection forces for high-profile guests in Iraq, were absent. The U.S. military made it clear that it would not be involved in protecting Ahmadinejad.
Borzou Daragahi writes for the Los Angeles Times.