TEHRAN - The Middle East Eye has announced that Iraqi Foreign Minister Fouad Hossein is scheduled to visit Iran on Wednesday, February 3.

An informed source in the Iraqi Ministry of Foreign Affairs also confirmed the news, according to Al-Ahd News Agency.  

The news has not yet been officially confirmed by Baghdad or Tehran, but media sources say the Iraqi foreign minister is expected to meet with Ali Shamkhani, secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, and Mohammad Javad Zarif, Iran’s foreign minister, regarding various issues.  

Foreign Minister Hossein paid an unannounced visit to Tehran on September 28, 2020. Previously, Mustafa al-Kazemi, the Iraqi prime minister, traveled to Tehran to negotiate with Iranian officials over the relations between two countries.    

The Iraqi foreign minister's visit to Tehran will take place as Jeanine Antoinette Hennis-Plasschaert, the UN Special Representative for Iraq, visited Tehran on Sunday for a two-day visit, according to a statement from the UN Office in Iraq. Hennis-Plasschaert held talks with Iranian officials on regional issues as part of efforts to support Iraq's stability.

The statement said that Hennis-Plasschaert had previously visited some countries, including Iran, to strengthen the mission of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Iraq (UNAMI) under Security Council Resolution 2522, which facilitates dialogue. 

In a meeting with Hennis-Plasschaert, Ali Akbar Velayati, an advisor to the Leader of the Islamic Revolution on international affairs, said Iran is ready to assist Iraq while stressing that the next parliamentary election in Iraq would be “very determining.”

EE/PA