Rouhani seeks to boost ties on maiden visit to Baghdad
BAGHDAD: Iranian President Hassan Rouhani was in Baghdad on Monday, making his first official visit to the nation that Tehran once fought a bloody war against and later backed in the battle with the Islamic State (IS) group.
Since Rouhani’s election in 2013, Iraq has relied on Iranian paramilitary support to fight IS, following the militant group’s capture of the Iraqi city of Mosul and other territory in both Iraq and Syria.
Now with the militants facing a final territorial defeat in the Syrian village of Baghouz, Iran is looking for Iraq’s continued support as it faces a maximalist pressure campaign by US President Donald Trump after his decision to withdraw America from Tehran’s nuclear deal with world powers.
Rouhani, who is accompanied on the three-day visit by a highranking political and economic delegation, was received by an honor guard on landing in Baghdad, where he was welcomed by Iraqi foreign minister Moham- med Ali al-hakim.
Rouhani then visited the shrine of Imam Kadhim, the seventh of 12 clerics revered by Shiites worldwide. Rouhani, a Shia cleric himself, paused to reach out and touch the gate surrounding the Imam’s tomb.
He then met President Barham Salih and was to later meet Prime Minister Abdel Abdul Mehdi, as well as visit other politicians and Shia leaders.
Rouhani’s visit underscores how much has changed since the 1980s, when Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein invaded Iran, sparking an eight-year war that killed a million people.
After the 2003 Us-led invasion of Iraq toppled Saddam, Iran reportedly began a campaign of backing militants who targeted US forces in Iraq.
Tehran also made political connections with Iraq’s Shia leaders, who had been persecuted by Saddam’s government.