Iran’s new president, Masoud Pezeshkian, started a go to to Iraq on Wednesday, aiming to deepen already shut ties with the neighbouring nation on his first journey overseas since taking workplace.
The three-day journey comes amid turmoil within the Center East sparked by the struggle in Gaza, which has drawn in Iran-backed armed teams across the area and complex Iraq’s relations with america.
“Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani welcomes the president of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Masoud Pezeshkian,” the Iraqi premier’s workplace mentioned in a short assertion alongside an image of the 2 males shaking arms on the tarmac at Baghdad airport.
Pezeshkian has vowed to make relations with neighbouring nations a precedence as he seeks to ease Iran’s worldwide isolation and mitigate the affect of US-led sanctions on its financial system.
His go to comes after Western powers on Tuesday introduced recent sanctions on Iran for supplying Russia with short-range missiles to be used towards Ukraine.
Iranian international ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani warned Britain, France and Germany that they “will face the suitable and proportionate motion” for the “hostile” transfer.
Hours earlier than Pezeshkian’s arrival, an explosion rocked a base on the airport utilized by a US-led anti-jihadist coalition, Iraqi safety officers mentioned.
A spokesperson for the Iranian-backed Hezbollah Brigades in Iraq mentioned Tuesday evening’s “assault” aimed to “disrupt the Iranian president’s go to”.
Ties between Iran and Iraq, each Shiite-majority nations, have grown nearer for the reason that US-led invasion of 2003 toppled the Sunni-dominated regime of Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.
“Iraq is one among our pals, brothers and Muslim nations,” Pezeshkian mentioned earlier than leaving Iran, in line with footage aired on Iranian state tv.
“And for that reason, we are going to go to this nation as the primary journey,” he added.
Pezeshkian, who took workplace in July after an early election following the dying of his predecessor Ebrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash, has beforehand linked shoring up ties to sanctions stress.
“Relations with neighbouring nations… can neutralise a big quantity of stress of the sanctions,” he mentioned final month.
Iran has suffered years of crippling Western sanctions, particularly after its arch-foe america, underneath then-president Donald Trump, unilaterally deserted a landmark nuclear deal between the Islamic republic and main powers in 2018.
Pezeshkian has made the highest diplomat who negotiated the 2015 deal, Mohammad Javad Zarif, his vp for strategic affairs as a part of his bid for a extra open Iran.
– Key commerce companions –
Iran has turn into one among Iraq’s main commerce companions, and wields appreciable political affect in Baghdad, the place its Iraqi allies dominate parliament and the present authorities.
Yearly, thousands and thousands of Iranian pilgrims journey to Iraq’s Shiite holy cities of Najaf and Karbala, and Pezeshkian can even go to the shrines there throughout his go to.
Non-oil commerce between Iran and Iraq stood at almost $5 billion over the 5 months from March 2024, Iranian media reported.
Iran additionally exports thousands and thousands of cubic metres of gasoline a day to Iraq to gasoline its energy vegetation, underneath a commonly renewed waiver from US sanctions.
Iraq is billions of {dollars} in arrears on its funds for the imports, which cowl 30 p.c of its electrical energy wants.
Political scientist Ali al-Baidar mentioned increasing commerce ties was a serious objective of Pezeshkian’s go to.
“Iran wants the Iraqi marketplace for its exports, simply because it wants Iraq’s power imports,” the Iraqi analyst mentioned.
– US troop drawdown –
Washington nonetheless has round 2,500 troops in Iraq and 900 in neighbouring Syria as a part of a global coalition towards the Islamic State jihadist group.
Final winter, US-led coalition forces in each Iraq and Syria had been focused dozens of occasions with drones and rocket fireplace as violence associated to the Israel-Hamas struggle in Gaza has drawn in Iran-backed armed teams throughout the Center East.
The barrage of assaults triggered retaliatory US air strikes in each nations.
On Sunday, Iraqi Defence Minister Thabet al-Abbassi informed pan-Arab tv channel Al-Hadath that the US-led coalition would pull out of most of Iraq by September 2025 and the Kurdish autonomous area by September 2026.
Regardless of months of talks, the goal dates have but to be agreed between Baghdad and Washington.
Pezeshkian can even journey to the Kurdish regional capital Arbil for talks with Kurdish officers, Iran’s official IRNA information company mentioned.
In March final yr, Tehran signed a safety settlement with the federal authorities in Baghdad after launching air strikes towards bases of Iranian Kurdish insurgent teams within the autonomous area.
They’ve since agreed to disarm the rebels and take away them from border areas.
AFP