Iraqi Prime Minister to Visit Iran Following U.S. Trip

Iraqi Prime Minister Ali Al-Zaidi is set to visit Iran later this week, shortly after returning from an official trip to the United States, according to Iraq’s state news agency INA on Sunday.

AFP, citing Iraq’s Foreign Ministry, reported that Al-Zaidi will sign several Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) in Tehran aimed at strengthening bilateral cooperation between Iraq and Iran across multiple sectors.

The visit will mark Al-Zaidi’s first official trip to Iran since taking office earlier this year. Prior to this, he spent a week in the United States, where he met President Donald Trump and announced 48 agreements and partnership deals with American companies.

Both the United States and Iran are key partners for Iraq. However, Baghdad has long sought to maintain a delicate balance between the two rivals amid their prolonged geopolitical rivalry. Recent exchanges of attacks and rising tensions between Washington and Tehran have made that balancing act increasingly challenging.

A businessman-turned-politician, Al-Zaidi has pledged to revive Iraq’s struggling economy by attracting foreign investment and expanding international partnerships. He has also vowed to disarm Iran-backed armed groups accused of carrying out attacks on U.S. facilities in Iraq.

Recent regional tensions have also affected Iraq’s autonomous Kurdistan Region, where U.S. military personnel, foreign oil companies, and exiled Iranian Kurdish opposition groups maintain a presence, adding to the area’s security sensitivities.