Iraqi Prime Minister Ali Al Zaidi will visit Tehran this week, state media reported, hot on the heels of his trip to Washington.
During the visit, Mr Al Zaidi is expected to sign memorandums of understanding with Iran in areas of co-operation aimed at “strengthening bilateral ties”, Iraq’s national news agency (INA) quoted the Foreign Ministry as saying.
INA said the Prime Minister would travel to Tehran “at the end of this week”.
Washington and Tehran are Iraq’s two main allies, but their long-running rivalry has repeatedly turned the country into a proxy battleground, leaving successive governments struggling to maintain a delicate balance between the two adversaries as hostilities have escalated in recent days.
The visit will be Mr Al Zaidi’s first trip to Iran since he became leader this year, with Washington’s backing, after US President Donald Trump vetoed another candidate for the post.
Mr Al Zaidi concluded a week-long trip to the US capital on Sunday, during which he won the backing of Mr Trump and his administration, and secured the signing of dozens of economic agreements. He presented himself as a pragmatic, business-friendly leader capable of engaging US partners and winning support for Iraq’s reform agenda.
Relations between Iraq and the US have at times been strained over the presence of American troops in Iraq, Baghdad's ties with Iran and US pressure on Iraq to curb the influence of Iranian-backed armed groups.
However, after being nominated for the prime ministerial office in April, Mr Al Zaidi received congratulations from Mr Trump, who said he was hoping for closer co-operation between Baghdad and Washington.
Mr Al Zaidi, a businessman with no political experience, has set September 30 as the deadline for pro-Iran armed factions active across Iraq to disarm, a pledge over which experts are sceptical due to Tehran's strong ties within the government and security sector. The militias have repeatedly targeted US assets in Iraq.
In recent days, attacks blamed on Iran have struck Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdistan region, which hosts US troops, foreign oil companies and Iranian-Kurdish opposition groups in exile.
Stop in Qatar
After returning from the US, Mr Al Zaidi visited Doha on Sunday, where he met Sheikh Tamim, the Emir of Qatar.
During talks at Lusail Palace, Qatar and Iraq stressed the need for the US and Iran to comply with commitments agreed to between the two countries, including ensuring freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz and promoting regional stability, the Qatar News Agency reported.
The two sides also discussed bilateral relations, ways to expand co-operation across various fields, and key regional and international developments, the news agency reported.
Qatar played a central role in mediating between Washington and Tehran, and helping to broker the interim ceasefire agreement signed last month. Despite its diplomatic role, the Gulf state was targeted by Iran last week after Tehran retaliated against US strikes by launching attacks on targets in the region.
The strikes and counterstrikes are part of an escalating cycle of attacks between the US and Iran after an interim ceasefire agreement signed a month ago unravelled, deepening a struggle for control over the Strait of Hormuz that has disrupted energy supplies and stoked fears of high global inflation.
