ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani will travel to Tehran on Sunday in an official visit to discuss regional developments with senior Iranian officials, in his fifth trip to the Islamic republic in ten years.
“During his visit to Tehran, President Nechirvan Barzani will participate in discussions with senior officials from the Islamic Republic of Iran aimed at strengthening relations with Iraq and the Kurdistan Region, while also examining potential areas for cooperation,” the Kurdistan Region Presidency said in a statement.
“The meetings will also address current regional developments,” it added, and Barzani will be accompanied by senior Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) officials including Interior Minister Reber Ahmed.
The trip comes days after Barzani visited Baghdad for discussions with Iraqi officials on paying the salaries of the Kurdistan Region’s civil servants and upcoming parliamentary elections.
In Tehran today, the Kurdistan Region and Iraqi flags are flying alongside the flag of the Islamic Republic of Iran, in preparation for @IKRPresident Nechirvan Barzani’s visit to the Iranian capital. pic.twitter.com/9sVKZuzdHA
— KRP Media (@MediaKRP) May 5, 2024
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, President Ebrahim Raisi, and parliamentary speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf are some of the names President Barzani is expected to meet with in Tehran, among other top officials.
President Barzani last visited Iran in August 2021 to attend Raisi’s inauguration ceremony.
The Kurdistan Region and Iran enjoy good ties. During a forum in Sulaimani in April, Barzani said that Iran contributed to the economic “success” of the Kurdistan Region.
But that relationship has been strained by Tehran’s attacks on exiled Kurdish groups and deadly missile strikes on locations that it alleged were Mossad bases in the Region.
In January, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) fired ten ballistic missiles at what it alleged was a Mossad base in the family home of a Kurdish businessman, killing four people, including an 11-month-old baby.
Days before the attack, President Barzani had said that the Kurdistan Region will not become a “source of threat” to Iran. Erbil has repeatedly denied the existence of Israeli bases within Kurdistan Region’s borders.
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