'Change to occur' in Iraq ties after US pullout: Iran

TEHRAN: Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said he expects "a change to occur" in Tehran-Baghdad ties after US military forces pull out from neighbouring Iraq, in an interview with CNN.

"I think a change will occur. We have special relations with Iraq," Ahmadinejad said, according to excerpts of the interview reported in Farsi by the website of Iran's state broadcaster. He called the US withdrawal "a good thing."

The Iranian president's comments were published after his US counterpart Barack Obama said Friday that all US troops would leave Iraq by the end of this year.

US officials have long accused Iran of arming and supporting Shiite militias in Iraq against US troops.

In the published excerpts, Ahmadinejad did not expand on what he meant by "change" in Iraq ties.