Iranian parliament speaker and chief negotiator Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf touched down in Baghdad Wednesday with a message: the region needs a "new order" free of foreign meddling.
Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf © Mena Today
Iranian parliament speaker and chief negotiator Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf touched down in Baghdad Wednesday with a message: the region needs a "new order" free of foreign meddling.
The timing wasn't subtle, his visit lands just as Washington ramps up pressure on Iraq to dismantle powerful Tehran-backed armed factions.
Qalibaf framed his three-day trip as an effort "to strengthen the new order in the region and accelerate cooperation between all regional countries, without foreign interference." Standing near Baghdad airport, the site where a 2020 US strike killed Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani and his Iraqi deputy Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, he added: "Resistance in Iraq is one of the pillars of this country's strength."
His itinerary includes meetings Wednesday with Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi and the Coordination Framework, the ruling coalition of Shiite parties with varying degrees of closeness to Tehran.
Iraq and Iran, both Shiite-majority nations sharing roughly 1,500 kilometers of border, maintain close political, religious and commercial ties.
Qalibaf's trip continues Thursday in Karbala for fortieth-day mourning ceremonies marking the death of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, killed in the opening US-Israeli strikes on February 28, before wrapping up Friday in Najaf.
President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that talks between the U.S. and Iran were neither taking place nor scheduled but the Strait of Hormuz was open, while Iran said the shipping route would remain closed until the U.S. fulfilled the terms of an interim deal.
President Donald Trump said on Monday that Iran would not make the deal he thinks is needed to end a war with the U.S. and should surrender as talks between the countries remained stalled.
Donald Trump threatened Monday to bomb Oman if it gets "in our way" over a deal on the Strait of Hormu, as Muscat and Tehran negotiate the maritime chokepoint's future without Washington at the table.
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