Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian will head to Baghdad on Wednesday, on his first visit abroad since his election in July.
The official news agency (IRNA) reported that Pezeshkian “will hold bilateral meetings with senior Iraqi officials,” saying the two countries will sign cooperation documents and security agreements.
This marks the first official visit outside Iran by the reformist president, who had previously affirmed his desire to prioritize boosting relations with neighboring countries.
Ties between Tehran and Baghdad have strengthened over the past two decades. Iran expanded its political and economic influence in Iraq after the toppling of the former Iraqi regime, led by Saddam Hussein. Iran’s allies in Iraq dominate the parliament and played a crucial role in choosing the current prime minister.
The two countries signed a security agreement in March 2023, a few months after Tehran carried out strikes against Kurdish opposition groups in northern Iraq. Since then, Tehran and Baghdad have agreed to disarm anti-Tehran Kurdish groups and move them away from the shared border.
Tehran accuses these groups of obtaining weapons from the Iraqi side and fueling the massive popular protests that erupted after the death of Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini in Sept. 2022, just days after she was detained for allegedly violating “hijab regulations.”
On Sunday, the commander of the ground forces of the Revolutionary Guards, General Mohammad Pakpour, described the signing of the security agreement between Baghdad and Tehran as a “great victory.”
“Israel supports sabotage teams at the borders and terrorist operations targeting border guard headquarters, according to conducted investigations,” the Tasnim news agency, affiliated with the IRGC, quoted Pakpour as saying.
Pakpour referred to operations carried out by the IRGC in the 1990s against opposition groups based in the Baluchistan province bordering Afghanistan and Pakistan.
“Parts of the borders were under the control of anti-revolution groups, but with the active presence of the [Revolutionary Guards] in those areas, the eastern and southeastern borders were cleansed of these elements,” he said.
The IRGC has launched several attacks on Iraq’s Kurdistan region - the latest of which occurred in January - declaring targeting a Mossad headquarters. Both Baghdad and Erbil denied the claim.
