Iraq’s President Barham Salih walks with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani during a welcome ceremony at Salam Palace in Baghdad, Iraq March 11, 2019. REUTERS/Thaier al-Sudani
On March 11, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani arrived in Iraq on his first visit to the country in the six years since his election.
The three-day state visit started with a meeting host President Barham Salih, amid hopes of increasing the volume of trade between the two countries, despite US economic sanctions that were imposed on Tehran in August and November 2018.
Following brief negotiations, the two leaders held a joint press conference saying several framework agreements had been reached.
“Strengthening ties between Tehran and Baghdad works to the benefit of both countries, and we won’t let this positive path towards progress slow down to a halt,” Rouhani said at the conference. “We want to forge very close relations with Iraq. We do not seek to be allied against others, but rather seek to invite other regional states to our alliance as well.”
“We need to get past trivial details in mutual relations and think about the bigger and broader space for cooperation and ties because this would best serve the interests of both countries,” Salih added.
The reached deals are in the fields of oil, trade, health, and a railway linking the southern Iraqi oil city of Basra and the Iranian border town of Shalamcheh.
The sides also agreed on measures to make it easier for businessmen and investors to obtain visas. The Iranian state news agency IRNA said it was agreed that travel visas would now be free of charge.
Rouhani’s visit are also including meetings with Prime Minister Adil Abdul-Mahdi and Parliament Speaker Mohammed al-Halbusi, as well as with a number of prominent lawmakers. He will also make stops at Shia holy sites and meet top Iraqi Shia cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani.
These developments underline that Tehran plays a dominant role in Iraq despite U.S. efforts to isolate the Islamic Republic.
