Iranian President Massoud Pezeshkian is set to travel to Iraq on Wednesday, marking his first foreign visit since his election in July, the official Iranian news agency Irna reported on Sunday.
Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian, Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters
Iranian President Massoud Pezeshkian is set to travel to Iraq on Wednesday, marking his first foreign visit since his election in July, the official Iranian news agency Irna reported on Sunday.
The visit will feature bilateral meetings with Iraqi officials and the signing of several agreements, including security memorandums, according to the agency.
Relations between the two Shiite-majority neighbors have strengthened significantly over the past two decades. Tehran, a key trading partner for Iraq, wields considerable political influence in Baghdad, where its allies dominate the parliament and have formed the current government.
In March 2023, the two countries signed a security agreement, just months after Tehran launched strikes against Kurdish opposition groups in northern Iraq. As part of this agreement, Iran and Iraq agreed to disarm Iranian Kurdish rebel groups and move them away from the shared border.
Iran has accused these groups of smuggling weapons into Iran from Iraq and of fueling protests following the death of Mahsa Amini, a young Iranian Kurdish woman who died in police custody in September 2022.
In January, Iranian forces carried out an attack in the Iraqi Kurdistan region, claiming to have targeted "a headquarters" of "agents of the Zionist regime (Mossad)," referring to Israel, Iran's arch-enemy.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio begins a Middle East tour in earnest on Wednesday, seeking to reassure Gulf allies who view concessions in President Donald Trump’s Iran deal that include a proposed $300 billion fund as too generous to a regional foe.
Talks between Israel and Lebanon include discussion of a U.S.-backed proposal for Israeli forces to hand over some of the territory they have invaded during the war with Hezbollah to the Lebanese military, according to Israeli and Lebanese officials.
Airlines should continue to avoid the airspace over Iran, Iraq and Lebanon and remain cautious across the region despite the framework deal between Washington and Tehran, because violations remained possible, the EU aviation safety agency EASA said.
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