Iraq's new government hopes it could serve as a mediator between the US and Iran, as it seeks to strike balanced relations between the two countries, an adviser to Prime Minister Ali Al Zaidi has said.
Dr Abbas Al Anbori was in Iran last week during Mr Al Zaidi's meeting with US President Donald Trump in Washington, to talk about the importance of Iraq's relations with both countries.
Mr Al Zaidi is in Tehran this week in a bid to host US-Iran talks, according to Iraq's state news agency, with reports in local media that he is seeking to host the talks in Baghdad.
In the city of Qom, Dr Al Anbori met clerics and prominent Iranians to discuss Baghdad's plans to disarm the Shiite militias that have attacked US bases in the country and energy sites regionally, with Iranian backing.
"Iraq could be a door to Iran to be open to the West," he told the London foreign affairs think tank Chatham House. "I've seen in my four days' tour in Iran to what extent the Iranian people are suffering from the economic sanctions. Like any other people in the world, they are looking for peace, for stability, and their own security.
"What's expected from our relationship with Iran is to keep and preserve Iraq's position ... in the middle between United States and Iran.
"We cannot remove the significance of United States as a big power and superpower in the world, and also we cannot remove the reality that Iran is our neighbour and we have mutual interests."
Dr Al Anbori added that he did not expect Tehran to be fully understanding of Mr Al Zaidi's stated position.
Pakistan and Qatar have been mediators to the US and Iran, and there are doubts that Iraq could credibly play such a role while armed groups continue to launch attacks on US bases and co-opt the state.
Experts fear that the Iraqi government faces war with the militias that will refuse to disarm by the October deadline, or US sanctions if it is considered to be ineffective in curbing armed groups that act with impunity.
But Dr Al Anbori said the government's ambition to disarm these groups needed to also address a growing hardline sentiment among the country's Shiite majority, who regard the US war on Iran as a "war against the Shia".
"This understanding, this mentality within the Shia community has increased," he said. "If are looking to understand the foreign policy in Iraq or the security policy in Iraq, we have to understand the complication of the Shia community, the Shia understanding of the war, and their relationship to the state".
Among these grievances is an "imbalance" in the representation of hardline Shiite groups in the current cabinet, Dr Al Anbori said. Although parties linked to armed groups had won 80 of more than 270 seats in parliament, none were represented in the government, which is still filling vacant seats.
Iran says it backed Shiite militias in Iraq to support the fight against ISIS, but the groups have been accused of co-opting the state, assassinations and the killing of hundreds of demonstrators in Iraq's youth-led October protests in 2019.
