Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian has arrived in Iraq on his first state journey overseas, in a bid to spice up ties amid tightening Western sanctions.
Pezeshkian, a relative reasonable who was elected in July, began his three-day go to as he met Iraqi Prime Minister Shia al-Sudani on Wednesday. Throughout the journey, the president and his delegation are as a result of signal a lot of agreements and focus on the Gaza warfare and the state of affairs within the Center East with their Iraqi counterparts, Baghdad mentioned.
The Iranian president visited a monument to Qassem Soleimani, the previous head of Iran‘s elite Quds Power – part of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) – who was killed in a 2020 assault by america in Baghdad.
Excessive on Pezeshkian’s agenda will likely be Israel’s warfare on Gaza, which has drawn in Iran-backed armed teams across the area and sophisticated Iraq’s relations with the US.
Increasing commerce ties can be one in every of Pezeshkian’s prime objectives, mentioned Iraqi political scientist Ali al-Baidar, noting that Iran wants “the Iraqi marketplace for its exports, simply because it wants Iraq’s power imports”.
Pezeshkian can even journey to the Kurdish regional capital, Erbil, for talks with Kurdish officers, in accordance with Iran’s official IRNA information company.
In March final 12 months, Tehran signed a safety settlement with the federal authorities in Baghdad after launching air raids 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.
Absorbing US-led sanctions
Throughout Pezeshkian’s go to, Iran and Iraq anticipate to signal quite a few agreements on commerce, agriculture and communications, in accordance with the Iraqi prime minister’s workplace.
Iranian Overseas Minister Abbas Araghchi mentioned on Wednesday there can be about 15 new memorandums, together with ones concerning safety and politics.
The deliberate accords are half a push to shore up Iran’s ties with neighbouring nations to ease the blow of US-led sanctions on its economic system.
Iran is one in every of Iraq’s main commerce companions, with non-oil commerce between the 2 nations at greater than $5bn previously 5 months, in accordance with Iranian media.
Iran additionally exports hundreds of thousands of cubic metres of fuel a day to Iraq to gas its energy crops underneath a usually renewed waiver from US sanctions.
On prime of its financial ties, Iran wields appreciable political affect in Baghdad, the place its Iraqi allies dominate parliament and the present authorities.
However Iraq additionally maintains shut ties to the US, which nonetheless has some 2,500 troopers within the nation as a part of a world coalition towards ISIL (ISIS).
Hours earlier than Pezeshkian’s arrival, an explosion rocked a base at an airport utilized by the US-led coalition, Iraqi safety officers mentioned.
The US embassy in Iraq mentioned on Wednesday {that a} diplomatic facility on the airport had been focused.
“There was an assault on the Baghdad Diplomatic Providers Compound, a US diplomatic facility,” the embassy mentioned in an announcement. “Luckily, there are not any reported casualties, and we’re assessing the harm and its trigger.”
A spokesperson for the Iranian-backed Hezbollah group in Iraq mentioned Tuesday evening’s “assault” aimed to “disrupt the Iranian president’s go to”.
Pezeshkian’s journey additionally comes as Iran faces new sanctions from the US and a number of other European nations accusing it of supplying Russia with short-range missiles to be used towards Ukraine.
Iran has suffered years of crippling Western sanctions, particularly after the US unilaterally deserted a landmark nuclear deal between Tehran and main powers in 2018.
Pezeshkian has made the highest diplomat who negotiated the 2015 deal, Mohammad Javad Zarif, his vice chairman for strategic affairs as a part of his bid for a extra open Iran.
