Hassan Rouhani to make first official trip to Iraq, Iran says

Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif yesterday said President Hassan Rouhani was scheduled next month to make his first visit to Iraq.

Mr Zarif, who is leading an economic delegation, arrived in Baghdad on Sunday on a five-day trip to hold talks with Iraqi and Kurdish officials.

“President Hassan Rouhani will visit Iraq on March 11,” Mr Zarif said.

It follows US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s unannounced visit to Iraq last week in which he stressed that Iraq must stop relying on Iran for gas and electricity imports.

Last month, the US State Department granted a 90-day waiver to Iraq to keep paying for electricity imports from Iran, despite reimposing sanctions on Tehran in November.

Washington has been working with Baghdad to end its dependence on Iranian natural gas and to increase its energy independence.

Iraqi Foreign Minister Mohammed Al Hakim said he discussed the US restrictions during a two-hour meeting with Mr Zarif on Sunday.

“We discussed the unilateral economic measures taken by the US and are working with our neighbour on them,” Mr Al Hakim said alongside Mr Zarif.

Mr Zarif condemned Washington’s role in the region.

“These failures have continued for the past 40 years and my proposal to countries in the region is to not bet on a losing horse,” Mr Zarif said.

Tehran is Baghdad’s second largest source of imported goods.

Meanwhile, King Abdullah of Jordan arrived in Baghdad yesterday morning for talks, Sky News Arabia reported.