TEHRAN - Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif who visited Baghdad on Sunday morning said he plans to discuss with the Iraqi officials a variety of issues including the U.S. crimes in the region and the assassination of top Iranian military commander Lt. Gen. Qassem Soleimani. 

“Today in Baghdad, I will have the opportunity to meet and exchange views with various Iraqi officials including the president, prime minister, speaker of the parliament, foreign minister, head of the judiciary, chief of the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), and other political officials of the country, ” Zarif told reporters upon his arrival in Baghdad.

“We will hold talks with the Iraqi brothers about the cooperation between the two countries that was agreed upon during Mr. Rouhani's visit to Baghdad, as well as regional issues, American crimes in the region, the martyrdom of Qassem Soleimani, martyr Abu Mahdi al-Mohandes and their companions, and other regional cooperation issues,” added Iran’s top diplomat who was on a one-day trip to neighboring Iraq. 

The foreign minister also expressed happiness over the opportunity to visit Iraq after the formation of the new Iraqi government in May. He noted that Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi will visit Iran on Tuesday at the invitation of President Hassan Rouhani. 
Accompanied by Iranian ambassador to Iraq Iraj Masjedi and several Iraqi officials, Zarif also paid homage to General Soleimani and al-Mohandes by visiting the location where they were assassinated by an American drone strike near Baghdad’s international airport on January 3, 2020.  

General Soleimani, one of Iran’s most revered military commanders, was famous for his contributions to the fight against terrorist groups, including Daesh (ISIS) in Iraq and Syria.

However, Iran did not let the U.S. go unpunished for its reckless terrorist attack.  Five days after the U.S. strike near Baghdad’s international airport, Iran launched a military operation codenamed “Operation Martyr Soleimani”, which saw Iran showering the U.S. Ein al-Asad airbase in Iraq’s western governorate of al-Anbar with tens of ground-to-ground missiles. 
Initially, the U.S. sought to down play the strike on its airbase. But the Pentagon admittedly announced later that more than 100 U.S. service members have been diagnosed with traumatic brain injury (TBI) stemming from Iran’s missile attack on the airbase.

SM/PA