As Masoud Pezeshkian, the recently elected president of Iran, visits Baghdad, new agreements are anticipated to be inked between Tehran and Baghdad.
According to Iran’s official media, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian landed in Baghdad on Wednesday as part of an official visit to the country, which is a key ally of both Washington and Tehran.
Since Saddam Hussein was overthrown by an invasion spearheaded by the United States in 2003, Tehran has been progressively consolidating its influence in Iraq, home to a number of armed organizations and parties associated with it.
Iraq, a rare joint venture between Iran and the US, is home to 2,500 US troops and has militias supported by Iran integrated into its security apparatus.
Since Israel’s war on Palestinians broke out in Gaza in October, it has experienced an increasing number of tit-for-tat strikes.
Prior to his first official overseas journey, relative moderate Pezeshkian stated, “We are planning to sign several agreements,” according to Iran’s state television.
“We will meet senior Iraqi officials in Baghdad.”
According to people with knowledge of the situation, the US and Iraq have come to an agreement over the withdrawal schedule of the US-led coalition forces from Iraq.
Since the start of the Gaza war, Iraqi militia groups affiliated with Iran have targeted US troops in the region on several occasions.
According to state media, Pezeshkian also intends to travel to the Kurdish region of northern Iraq, which is semi-autonomous and has seen Iranian strikes in the past. Iran claims that the region serves as a staging ground for both its arch-enemy Israel and Iranian separatist organizations.
In an attempt to allay Tehran’s worries over local separatist organizations, Baghdad moved to relocate some of its members as part of a security agreement with Tehran in 2023.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi reportedly stated, “We have several co-operation areas, including political, regional… and security issues,” according to state media, before to the president’s visit.
