TEHRAN - The new Iranian ambassador to Iraq, Mohammed Kazem Al Sadeq, met Monday with the Iraqi Foreign Minister to present him with a copy of his credentials.

In remarks during the ceremony, Al Sadeq stressed the need to strengthen Iranian-Iraqi relations in all fields and to make joint efforts to achieve this.

Pointing to the approaching Arbaeen pilgrimage and estimates that large crowds of Iranian pilgrims who will head to Iraq to observe the ritual, the ambassador called on the Iraqi government to cooperate more to speed up the procedure for canceling visas between the two countries.

The Iraqi foreign minister affirmed his country's supportive stance to open more channels of bilateral dialogue, including security issues, climate change and its repercussions.

The new Iranian ambassador also submitted his credentials to Iraqi President Barham Salih. 

Before heading to Iraq, Al Sadeq met with Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian in Tehran. 

Al Sadeq, who replaced Iraj Masjedi, traveled to Iraq to begin discharging his duties.  The change of ambassador comes as Iraq is gearing up for government formation in the wake of the recent parliamentary elections which handed cleric Muqtada Sadr a victory.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said recently that Iran seeks to become a facilitator in the internal affairs of Iraq and talk to all parties with the aim of achieving a smooth and democratic transition of power in the Arab country.

Recently, Al Sadeq met with Mohammad Hossein Soufi, the director of the Touring and Automobile Club of the Islamic Republic of Iran, to discuss ways to expand tourism relations with Iraq.

Soufi said that creating the necessary facilities, such as issuing international driver’s licenses, handling customs matters, and issuing transit license plates, is one way to create prosperity in the tourism industry.

As the biggest and most important task of the touring and automobile club, it aims to improve these facilities, especially for neighboring countries sharing borders with Iran, such as Iraq, he added.

As Iraq is one of the countries with the highest demand for car travel to Iran, there is a need for joint cooperation between the related organizations in order to remove existing obstacles and facilitate the movement of cars and other land vehicles, he noted.