Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari will pay an official visit to Iran in the near future, the official IRNA news agency reported on Sunday.

Jaafari's upcoming visit was a result of Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharazi's recent successful visit to Iraq, the ministry spokesman Hamid-Reza Asefi was quoted as saying.

"The recent visit by Kharazi to Iraq carried very important messages, and the two sides held constructive and positive negotiations on various issues," Asefi said, without revealing the exact date of Jaafari's visit.

Meanwhile, Asefi noted that Iraqi officials, in a joint statement by Iran and Iraq, acknowledged for the first time that former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein had initiated the 1980-1988 war against Iran.   

"It is an important issue since it deals with international rights. The cost of war will be naturally borne by the invader," Asefi said.

Kharazi paid a landmark visit to Iraq on May 17-19, during which he met several top Iraqi officials and religious leaders.

(Xinhua News Agency May 23, 2005)