Iranian President Hassan Rouhani will make his first official visit to Iraq this week as he faces mounting pressure from hardliners at home in the wake of the unraveling of the nuclear deal under the Trump administration.
Rouhani’s trip — billed as “historic and noble” by his foreign minister — is meant to solidify ties between Shiite power Iran and Iraq’s Shiite led-government.
It’s also Iran’s response to US President Donald Trump’s snap December trip to Iraq during which he said US forces were in Iraq to watch Iran.
Iran’s top diplomat, Mohammad Javad Zarif, was in Baghdad on Sunday to prepare for Rouhani’s three-day visit, which starts Monday.
Zarif told the official IRNA news agency that Rouhani’s visit will provide an opportunity for reaching “serious understandings” between the two neighbors.
The US pulled out of the 2015 nuclear accord in May last year and reimposed punishing economic sanctions on the country.