Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian speaks to members of parliament in Tehran, as he defends his cabinet selection. AFP
Tehran has wide political influence in neighbouring Iraq and holds significant power over some armed groups
Iran’s newly elected President Masoud Pezeshkian will visit Iraq next month, in his first official trip abroad, Iranian and Iraqi officials have confirmed.
Iran’s ambassador to Iraq, Mohammad Kazem Al Sadegh, told Iranian news agency IRNA that Mr Pezeshkian will visit the neighbouring country mid September.
Two senior Iraqi political officials and an Iranian journalist in Baghdad confirmed the visit to The National and said it would take place before Mr Pezeshkian attends the UN General Assembly in New York towards the end of the month. A third Iraqi official said the invitation for Mr Pezeshkian to visit Iraq had been accepted but the date of the visit had not yet been fixed.
Mr Pezeshkian’s visit “was made according to an invitation from PM Al Sudani,” an Iraqi political source said.
In his remarks to IRNA, Mr Al Sadegh said the president would lead a high-ranking delegation and will sign a number of memorandums that were supposed to be signed by the heads of the two states during a visit of the late president Ebrahim Raisi.
Mr Pezeshkian’s first trip abroad being to Iraq is unsurprising: the president’s government has said it will continue a foreign policy focused on strengthening Iran’s relations with neighbouring countries.
“The Iranians want to show the importance of Iraq in their foreign policy as the first priority,” the Iraqi source said.
Iran has widespread political influence in Iraq, where it holds significant power over some armed groups in the Popular Mobilisation Forces. Trade ties are also significant. Iraq relies on gas imported from Iran via two cross border pipelines to fuel many of its power stations and keep electricity supplies running.
President Pezeshkian was elected following the death of Mr Raisi in a helicopter crash in May.
Updated: August 28, 2024, 9:31 AM