Iran
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian (third from left) and Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani (fourth from left) in a meeting in Erbil on September 12, 2024. Photo: Office of President Barzani
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Sunday stated that through speaking Kurdish during his trip in Iraq and the Kurdistan Region, President Masoud Pezeshkian achieved years’ worth of diplomacy in one day, adding that the visit marked the start of a new chapter with the neighboring country.
“Mr. Pezeshkian was able to interact very positively with the people there, and with his mastery of the Kurdish language, the atmosphere was very positive,” Araghchi said in an interview with Iranian state TV.
“He also had a short conversation or two in Kurdish, which created enthusiasm among the people of the region, and in a way, this kind of interaction by the president of the republic achieved years of cultural and media diplomacy in half a working day,” he added.
Pezeshkian landed in Baghdad on Wednesday for his first foreign visit since assuming office in late July. He also visited the cities of Erbil, Sulaimani, Najaf, Karbala, and Basra during the three-day trip.
An official from the Iraqi presidency told Rudaw that the Iranian president and his Iraqi counterpart Abdul Latif Rashid spoke in Kurdish during their one-on-one meeting in Baghdad’s presidential palace. The Iraqi president is a Kurd and Pezeshkian was born and raised in the predominantly-Kurdish city of Mahabad, northwestern Iran.
Pezeshkian also answered reporters’ questions in Kurdish on multiple occasions during his time in Iraq and the Kurdistan Region.
Araghchi said that there is potential to increase trade between Iran and Iraq, especially trade ties with the Kurdistan Region, adding that Sulaimani could be Tehran’s gateway into the Region.
“So far, parts of the agreement has been implemented in cooperation with the Iraqi federal government and the measures taken in the Region. We have received favorable promise from Baghdad and the Region to complete the rest of the security agreement,” he added.
Iran and Iraq signed a security pact in March 2023 that saw Baghdad agree to disarm Kurdish opposition groups and secure the border regions. The Iranian military had threatened to take action if Baghdad failed to fulfill the agreement.
The two countries have shared a strong relationship since the fall of Saddam Hussein in 2003. Tehran has increased its influence over Baghdad and the country has dozens of armed groups who are affiliated with the Shiite rule in Tehran.
“In every government, the destination of the first foreign trip of its president has special messages, and we chose Iraq because it is important to us, and it shows that our priority is the neighboring countries and the region,” said the foreign minister.
The Kurdistan Region and Iran enjoy good ties in several sectors, mainly trade and tourism. The relationship, however, has been strained in recent years by Tehran’s attacks on exiled Kurdish groups and deadly missile strikes inside the Kurdistan Region’s borders on locations that it alleged were Mossad bases. Erbil has vehemently rejected the claims.
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