Iraqi president Jalal Talabani has been officially welcomed to Iran by his counterpart, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, in Tehran. Ahmadinejad says he wants to use Iran's experience to help neighboring Iraq make progress.

The two countries have had close relations after the 2003 overthrow of Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein. The former Iraqi leader had led an eight-year war against Iran in the 1980's. The United States has repeatedly accused overwhelmingly-Shiite Iran of using its influence in the majority-Shiite Iraq to fight US led forces. Iran has denied the charge, saying the US occupation has created serious security concerns.

On Friday, Iran's influential former president claimed that Tehran could continue building the Bushehr nuclear power plant through to completion, even without help from Russia.

(CCTV March 2, 2009)