Iran’s president visits Iraq on first trip abroad By Reuters

By Elwelly Elwelly

DUBAI (Reuters) – Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian arrived in Baghdad on Wednesday on an official visit to Iraq, a strategic ally of both Tehran and Washington, Iranian state media said.

Iraq is home to several Iran-aligned parties and armed groups as Tehran has steadily increased its influence in the major oil producer since a US-led invasion toppled its nemesis Saddam Hussein in 2003.

A rare partner of both the United States and Iran, Iraq hosts 2,500 American troops and has Iranian-backed militias linked to its security forces. It has come under increasing attacks since the Israel-Hamas war broke out in Gaza in October.

“We plan to sign more agreements,” Iranian state media quoted Pezeshkian, a relative moderate, as saying ahead of the visit, his first official trip abroad. “We will meet with senior Iraqi officials in Baghdad.”

The United States and Iraq have reached an agreement on plans to withdraw US-led coalition forces from Iraq, sources familiar with the matter say.

Iran-aligned militia groups in Iraq have repeatedly attacked US troops in the Middle East since the start of the Gaza war.

State media said Pezeshkian also plans to visit Iraqi Kurdistan, a region where Iran has carried out strikes in the past, saying it is used as a staging ground for Iranian separatist groups as well as agents of its enemy Israel.

Baghdad has sought to address Iranian concerns about regional separatist groups by moving to relocate some members to a 2023 security pact with Tehran.

“We have several areas of cooperation, including political, regional … and security issues,” Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said before the president’s trip, according to state media.