President of Iran, Masoud Pezeshkian has made his first foreign trip to Iraq, underlining the religious establishment’s desire to enhance ties with a crucial ally of both Tehran and Washington as regional tensions escalate.
Mr. Pezeshkian, a relative moderate who was elected in July, met with Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani on Wednesday at the start of his three-day tour, which Baghdad claimed will feature the signing of many agreements as well as discussions over the Gaza war and the Middle East crisis.
Iraq is home to a number of Iran-aligned parties and armed groups, as Tehran has progressively extended its influence in the major oil producer since Saddam Hussein was deposed by a US-led invasion in 2003.
Iraq is an unusual partner of both the United States and Iran, with 2,500 US soldiers and Iran-backed armed organisations allied to its security forces.
The Iraqi prime minister’s media office said in a statement that the two countries would sign memoranda of understanding (MoUs) in different fields including trade, agriculture and communications.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said on Wednesday that around 15 MoUs would be signed, Iranian state media reported.
Pezeshkian visited a monument for Iranian Major-General Qassem Soleimani who was killed, in a U.S. drone attack in 2020 in Iraq, Iranian state media reported.
The United States and Iran came close to a full-blown conflict in 2020 after Soleimani’s killing in a U.S. drone attack at Baghdad airport and Tehran’s retaliation by attacking U.S. bases in Iraq.
The United States and Iraq have reached an understanding on plans for the withdrawal of U.S.-led coalition forces from Iraq, say sources familiar with the matter.
Iran-aligned armed groups in Iraq have repeatedly attacked US troops in the Middle East since the Gaza war began.
State media have said Pezeshkian also plans to visit Iraqi Kurdistan, a region where Iran has carried out strikes in the past, saying it is used as a staging ground for Iranian separatist groups as well as agents of its arch-foe Israel.
