Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad paid on Sunday a landmark visit to Iraq, the first for an Iranian president since Iran's Islamic Revolution in 1979.

Ahmadinejad was received by his Iraqi counterpart Jalal Talabani in his residence at the edge of the heavily fortified Green Zone in central Baghdad, which houses the Iraqi government offices and foreign embassies, including the U.S. one.

Iraqi government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said on Feb. 14 that in his two-day visit, Ahmadinejad was scheduled to hold talks with Talabani and Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki. The leaders would discuss bilateral relations and joint projects, he said.

During Ahmadinejad's visit, the two sides are expected sign up to 10 economic agreements, according to the Iran's official IRNA news agency.

Ahmadinejad's visit comes as the U.S. is accusing Iran of backing Iraqi Shiite insurgents to create instability.

Iran denies the allegation. In a speech on Saturday, Ahmadinejad blamed the U.S. and its allies for the unrest in Iraq. "We think insecurity, dissension and violence in Iraq are the result of the plots of occupation forces because there had been no such differences at all prior to the country's occupation," he was quoted by IRNA as saying.

"Iran does not need to interfere in Iraq and is a friend to all groups there. Isn't it ridiculous that those having 160,000 soldiers in Iraq are accusing us of interference?" he said.

Iran and the U.S. has held three rounds of talks since last May over the security in Iraq. The two sides were supposed to meet for the fourth time on Feb. 15, but Iran put it into abeyance one day before the given date.

Iran and Iraq fought a bloody eight-year war in 1980s, resulting in the loss of 1 million lives. The relations, however, has been picking up since Saddam Hussein was toppled in 2003 and the Shiites came into power.

(Xinhua News Agency March 2, 2008)