In Baghdad, the new Iranian president and his Iraqi ally display their unity

Iraq and Iran signed 14 memoranda of understanding on Wednesday to strengthen their cooperation and consolidate already strategic ties, in the presence of Iranian President Massoud Pezeshkian, who chose Baghdad for his first foreign visit since his election.

Illustrating the agreement on the regional aspect, Iraqi Prime Minister Mohamed Shia al-Soudani assured that Iraq and Iran rejected an “extension” of the war in the Gaza Strip between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas.

As an essential ally of Iraq, Iran enjoys strong influence with the main Iraqi Shiite political parties, but also with armed groups, the former paramilitaries of the Hachd al-Chaabi, now enrolled in the security apparatus.

But at the same time the Iraqi government maintains strategic relations with its American ally, particularly on the military level.

M. Pezeshkian was greeted by Mr. Soudani at Baghdad airport, where he then paid his respects at a memorial to Iranian general Qassem Suleimani and an influential commander of the Hashd, both killed at this site in 2020 by an American armed drone.

Fourteen memoranda of understanding were signed in the presence of the two leaders, notably in the fields of education but also agriculture and natural resources.

“We discussed strategic and long-term plans, which will lead to greater cooperation between the two countries,” Mr. Pezeshkian said.

Mr. Soudani himself welcomed the trip as “a driving force for bilateral relations.”

– “Extension of the conflict” –

The three-day visit will take the Iranian president to the Shiite holy cities of Najaf and Karbala (central) and to the autonomous region of Kurdistan (north), which has sometimes had tense relations with Tehran.

Having taken office at the end of July, Mr. Pezeshkian has pledged to consolidate relations with his neighbors, in order to ease Iran's international isolation and limit the impact of American sanctions on its economy.

“Iran needs the Iraqi market for its exports, just as it needs Iraqi energy imports,” according to Iraqi political scientist Ali al-Baidar.

Iran has been subject to Western sanctions for years, particularly after the United States, Tehran's sworn enemy, unilaterally withdrew from the international Iranian nuclear deal in 2018 under President Donald Trump.

Mr. Pezeshkian's visit also comes at a time of high tensions in the Middle East, with the war in Gaza.

“We have ensured on more than one occasion the refusal of an extension of the conflict,” said Mr. Soudani, referring to the two countries' “common positions” with regard to Israeli “aggression” in Gaza.

Regional tensions have several times spilled over into Iraqi territory: to denounce Washington's support for Israel, pro-Iranian Iraqi armed factions carried out dozens of airstrikes last winter. drone and fired rockets against American soldiers engaged with an international anti-jihadist coalition in Iraq and Syria.

– “Border areas” –

On Tuesday evening, shortly before the Iranian president's arrival, an “attack” at Baghdad airport targeted an “American diplomatic center,” the US embassy announced, without reporting any casualties.

A military spokesman for the Hezbollah Brigades, an influential pro-Iran armed group, denounced the “attack,” which he said was intended to disrupt Mr. Pezeshkian's visit.

After a war between Iraq and Iran in the 1980s, ties between the two Shiite-majority countries have strengthened considerably since the US invasion of Iraq in 2003 that toppled Saddam Hussein's regime.

Iranian President Massoud Pezeshkian disembarks from his plane after arriving in Baghdad, September 11, 2024 © POOL – Murtada AL-SUDANI

In Kurdistan, where he is expected on Thursday, Mr. Pezeshkian's discussions are expected to focus on the Iranian Kurdish opposition, which has been established in the region for decades and targeted by airstrikes Iran.

“We have succeeded (…) in regulating the security situation in the border areas,” said Mr. Soudani on Wednesday, recalling that Iraq refuses the launch from its territory of any “aggression, armed action or threat against the Islamic Republic of Iran.”

Another contentious issue: the sharing of river waters, an issue discussed with President Abdel Latif Rachid.

“Climate change is one of the main challenges weighing on the two countries,” according to the Iraqi president, who called on Tehran to “free the water of the border rivers” via “agreements on the sharing of waters, satisfactory to all.”

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi recently called for a “effective water diplomacy” to make it “a question of cooperation and not conflict”.

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