TEHRAN- Hossein Amir Abdollahian, the Foreign Minister of Iran, visited Baghdad on Tuesday night to hold meetings on Wednesday with senior Iraqi officials on a number of bilateral and regional issues.

Heading a diplomatic delegation, he visited Baghdad at the request of his Iraqi counterpart, Fuad Hussein.

During a joint news conference with Hussein, Amir Abdollahian thanked Iraq for trying to advance dialogue and cooperation between Iran and Saudi Arabia as well as Iran and Egypt. 

During his tour, Abdollahian held talks with Foreign Minister Hussein, President Abdul Latif Rashid, Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, Parliament Speaker Mohammed al-Halbousi, the head of the Supreme Judicial Council of Iraq, and the chairman of Iraqi National Security Council.

The Iranian foreign minister and his entourage visited a memorial monument installed in honor of Lt. Gen. Qassem Soleimani, commander of the Quds Force of the IRGC outside Baghdad airport on Tuesday night upon his arrival in Iraq.

Abdollahian addresses border security and Iraq’s debts to Iran

Amir Abdollahian called for improvement of ties between Iran and Iraq at the meeting with President Rashid, a native of Iraqi Kurdistan.

Other concerns were also addressed, such as border security and Iraq’s debt to Iran.

The Iraqi president characterized the ties between his country and Iran as substantial and deep.

Rashid also reaffirmed his nation's commitment to forging ties with the Iranian side.

During the meeting with Prime Minister al-Sudani, Amir Abdollahian emphasized the necessity for Iraq to pay its debts to Iran, maintain control over the shared border, and refrain from provocation and threatening measures against its eastern neighbor. 

He also urged the completion of the document on Iran-Iraq comprehensive cooperation.

Sudani, for his part, praised Iran’s consistent support for Iraq and stated that his country was prepared to uphold prior agreements.

Also, he promised that despite regional changes, Iraq will keep working to maintain peace in the region and deepen dialogue.

Iraq vows to deepen ties with Iran

Iraq’s foreign minister stated that his country is eager to increase commerce with Iran in light of recent discussions he had with Washington over Baghdad’s exemption from American sanctions against Tehran.

During their meeting on Wednesday in Baghdad, Hussein and Amir Abdollahian discussed a wide range of topics, including the two nations’ political and economic cooperation as well as the legal actions being taken to investigate the American assassination of General Soleimani and his Iraqi comrade, Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis.

Hussein stated that the Baghdad government is steadfast in its desire to ease economic and financial relations with Tehran, referring to his recent talks with Washington on how to remove Iraq from U.S. sanctions that are stifling commerce with Iran.

He emphasized once more that Iraq will never let anyone to exploit its territory to threaten its neighbors in accordance with its Constitution.

The senior Iranian diplomat, for his part, emphasized the strong potential for economic cooperation and expressed optimism for removal of barriers to the payment of Iraq's debts to Iran.

Amir Abdollahian expressed his confidence that the agreement on security cooperation between the two nations would soon be completed by citing the “strategic commonalities” between Iran and Iraq.

Amir Abdollahian also held separate meetings with others Iraqi officials.