Iranian acting FM to make first visit to Erbil as ties strengthen

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iran’s acting foreign minister, Ali Bagheri Kani, will visit Erbil on Friday to meet with Kurdish leaders, according to an Iranian diplomat. 

“Tomorrow the acting foreign minister of Iran will visit Baghdad, after his visit, on Friday, he will visit Erbil and meet with the Region’s officials,” Nasrollah Rashnoudi, Iran’s consul general to Erbil, told Rudaw's Bakhtyar Qadir. 

The consul said that Bagheri Kani will meet with the leader of the ruling Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), Masoud Barzani, Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani, and Prime Minister Masrour Barzani.

Nazim Dabbagh, the representative of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) in Tehran, told Rudaw that the acting foreign minister will visit Sulaimani as well.

Rashnoudi noted that Tehran-Erbil relations strengthened after President Barzani's visit to Iran in early May.

On May 6, President Barzani met with Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, late President Ebrahim Raisi, and late Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian.

During the visit, President Barzani invited Raisi to visit Erbil.

Raisi and several top Iranian officials, including Amir-Abdollahian, were killed last month after their helicopter crashed in a rugged region in East Azerbaijan province. 

“The visit of the acting foreign minister of the Islamic Republic at this time can be decisive in further strengthening these relations,” said Rashnoudi.

Mohammad Kazem Al-e Sadeq, Iran's ambassador to Baghdad, told Rudaw's Anmar Ghazi on Wednesday that the Iranian foreign minister's visit is important. 

"The visit is made in the framework of bolstering relations between both countries... There are developments in the regional countries, therefore it is necessary for both countries to consult one another," he said. 

"Iran and Iraq have historical relations," he added, stressing that consultation is necessary between both neighbors. 

Regarding Tehran-Erbil ties, the ambassador said "President Barzani's last visit to Iran "played a direct and great role in the normalization of relations," he said. 

Updated at 11:40 with comments from Iranian ambassador to Baghdad