Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian began his foreign tour with a visit to Iraq, where he signed agreements focusing on security and the economy. The two countries also aimed to find new ways to handle debt payments and share water resources.
After arriving in Baghdad, Pezeshkian visited the site of Qassem Soleimani’s assassination and laid a wreath there, a gesture that has become a common practice for Iranian officials visiting the city since 2021.
Soleimani, the Iranian Revolutionary Guards' top commander, was killed in a US drone strike near Baghdad airport in 2020.
Iraqi state television showed Pezeshkian and Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani at the reception ceremony, which featured both national anthems. Pezeshkian met with Sudani and the Iraqi President at two locations in the Green Zone.
He was also set to meet with other officials and party leaders before continuing his visit to the Kurdistan region, Basra, Najaf, and Karbala.
Pezeshkian is scheduled to travel to Sulaymaniyah and lay a wreath at the grave of the late President Jalal Talabani, according to an Iranian official.
Sudani called the relationship with Tehran “strong and solid” during a press conference with Pezeshkian. He noted that the two countries’ security forces are working together to secure borders and prevent smuggling.
Pezeshkian said Iran needs new security agreements with Iraq, as both countries face the same threats.
Sudani reiterated that Iraq will not allow its land to be used for actions that could threaten Iran’s security.
Tehran’s main concern is the presence of armed Iranian Kurdish opposition groups in the Kurdistan region.
Baghdad recently closed many of these groups’ offices and removed them from the border area. Iraq’s National Security Advisor Qassem al-Araji said there are plans to resettle these groups in a third country with UN coordination.
In March 2023, Iraq and Iran signed a security agreement after Iran attacked Kurdish opposition groups in northern Iraq.
Since then, both countries agreed to disarm these groups and keep them away from the border. Tehran accuses them of getting weapons from Iraq and inciting protests following the death of Iranian Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini in September 2022.
On his part, Pezeshkian stressed that Iran wants a “strong, stable, secure, and independent Iraq.”
