Halbousi discusses bilateral ties with Iranian officials

Rudaw

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iraqi parliament speaker Mohammed al-Halbousi arrived in Tehran on an official visit on Wednesday, where he met with top Iranian officials to discuss bilateral ties with the neighboring country.

Halbousi and his accompanying delegation met with his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf upon his arrival.

The two officials later held a joint presser where they “affirmed the continuity of cooperation between the two countries,” according to a statement published on Halbousi’s official Telegram channel.

Bagheri and Halbousi also stressed that the relations between the two countries are intertwined and that the “stability of Iran reflects positively on Iraq” and vice versa.
 

 
“Our two countries have gone through difficult years. Iran has been subjected to economic sanctions. Iraq has been subjected to terrorism, and everyone has been affected by the global and health crisis,” Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi said during his meeting with Halbousi, according to statements published on the official Telegram channel of the office of the Iraqi speaker of parliament. 

Raisi congratulated Halbousi for his re-election as parliamentary speaker, despite the opposition expressed by the Shiite Coordination Framework at the time when he was re-elected at the beginning of the year during a chaotic first parliamentary session.

In January, a rocket attack targeted Halbousi's residence, though no group claimed responsibility, the perpetrators were believed to be linked to the Coordination Framework. 

Halbousi also met with Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and discussed water security and environmental issues, as well as the “the issue of increasing the amount of gas according to the request of the Iraqi Ministry of Electricity,” the statement read. Halbousi also stressed the need to increase “the amount of gas imported from Iran.”

Amir-Abdollahian praised Iraq for the role it has played in mediating talks between regional countries, referring to the five rounds of talks that Baghdad facilitated between Riyadh and Tehran. The foreign minister reiterated his support for cooperation with Iraq on all files, including “increasing gas quantities in the coming period.”

Part of Halbousi’s trip consisted of a meeting with Iran’s Secretary of Supreme National Security Council Ali Shamkhani, which predominantly focused on the topic of security cooperation. Shamkhani stated that security and stability in Iraq are a “regional necessity” and are important to Iran. However, the discussions did not touch upon the IRGC’s missile attack on Erbil. 

The recent visit comes two weeks after Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein landed in Tehran.

Hussein and Halbousi’s trips come after Iran fired a dozen ballistic missiles at the Kurdish capital of Erbil under the pretext of targeting an Israeli base on March 13. No evidence was found to support Tehran’s allegations.

Both Iraqi officials emphasized, “preserving the sovereignty” of Tehran and Iraq during their trips.

Iran holds considerable influence over the federal government in Baghdad.

Iraq has tried to act as an intermediary to resolve the regional issues between long-term foes Iran and Saudi Arabia. The talks resumed in Baghdad on Thursday.

Updated on April 28 at 1pm with the official statements from Halbousi's office