Iraq
A billboard set up in Basra in preparation for Pezeshkian’s visit depicts the Iraqi and Iranian flags and reads “neighbors forever,” on September 13, 2024. Photo: Halkawt Aziz/Rudaw
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian is set to conclude his trip to Iraq and the Kurdistan Region on Friday by visiting the city of Basra, the country’s economic capital.
“The trip includes visits to Basra's commercial and oil ports, the main export terminals, and discussions with Iranian traders in the city,” Iranian state media said of Pezeshkian’s Friday agenda.
The Iranian president landed in Baghdad on Wednesday for his first foreign visit since assuming the office in late July and met with top Iraqi officials, including Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani and President Abdul Latif Rashid.
Iran and Iraq 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 the Islamic republic.
Pezeshkian traveled to the Kurdistan Region capital of Erbil on Thursday morning where he met with the Region’s President Nechirvan Barzani, Prime Minister Masrour Barzani, and Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) leader Masoud Barzani, before making his way to Sulaimani and convening with Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) leader Bafel Talabani.
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.
The Iranian president told reporters in Erbil that the Iranian delegation is here to strengthen ties with both Iraq and the Kurdistan Region “to resolve all problems that have existed so far.”
Pezeshkian also traveled to the cities of Najaf and Karbala on Thursday afternoon and visited several Shiite holy sites, including the shrines of Imam Hussein and Imam Ali. His visit comes two weeks after the conclusion of the Arbaeen pilgrimage.
Over 3.5 million foreign pilgrims, mainly from Iran, Turkey, Lebanon, and Kuwait, entered Iraq in late August to observe Arbaeen - a significant religious observance for followers of the sect which marks the end of a 40-day mourning period for the death of Imam Hussein, the third Shiite Imam and grandson of the Prophet Mohammed, in 680 AD.
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