BAGHDAD: Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian visited Iraq on Wednesday on his first foreign trip, signalling the clerical establishment's intent to strengthen ties with a strategic ally of Tehran and Washington as regional tensions rise.
Pezeshkian, a relative moderate who was elected in July, met with Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani at the start of a three-day visit that Tehran and Baghdad say will include signing several agreements and discussing the Gaza war and the situation in the Middle East.
“The discussion will focus on expanding bilateral ties, as well as regional and international issues such as the ongoing crimes of the Zionist regime (Israel) against the oppressed people of Palestine and the need to stop the war and genocide in Gaza,” Pezeshkian's office said in a statement.
Iraq is home to several Iran-aligned parties and armed groups, while Tehran has steadily increased its influence in the top oil producer since a US-led invasion toppled longtime enemy Saddam Hussein in 2003.
Iraq, an unlikely partner of both the United States and Iran, hosts 2,500 American troops and has Iranian-backed armed factions linked to its security forces. It has suffered an escalation of reciprocal attacks since the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza began in October.
The Iraqi prime minister's press office said the two countries had signed 14 memorandums of understanding (MoUs) in different fields, including trade, sports, agriculture, cultural cooperation, education, media, communications and tourism.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said on Wednesday that Tehran and Baghdad have several areas of cooperation “including political and regional.” […] and security issues,” Iranian state media reported.
Pezeshkian visited a memorial to Iranian Major General Qassem Soleimani, who was killed in a US drone strike in Iraq in 2020, Iranian state media reported.
Relations with the USA
The United States and Iran came close to a full-blown conflict in 2020 after the killing of Soleimani in a US drone strike at Baghdad airport and Tehran's retaliation by attacking US bases in Iraq.
The United States and Iraq have reached an understanding on plans for the withdrawal of US-led coalition forces from Iraq, sources familiar with the matter say.
Iran-aligned armed groups in Iraq have repeatedly attacked US troops in the Middle East since the Gaza war began.
State media said Pezeshkian also plans to visit Iraqi Kurdistan, a region where Iran has carried out attacks in the past, saying it is used as a base of operations for Iranian separatist groups as well as agents of its arch-enemy Israel.
Baghdad has sought to address Iranian concerns about regional separatist groups, moving to relocate some members in a 2023 security pact with Tehran.
