Iraqi prime minister visits Tehran after Washington talks

Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi has arrived in Iran days after his first official visit to the United States, Al Jazeera reported. The back-to-back trips put Baghdad’s relations with Tehran and Washington at the center of his new government’s foreign policy.

Al Jazeera reported that al-Zaidi met Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian in Tehran on July 23. The visit follows talks in Washington with US President Donald Trump, who praised al-Zaidi and said the two countries would pursue multiple deals, according to Al Jazeera.

A new prime minister tests Iraq’s balance

Al-Zaidi became prime minister in May and was seen as a compromise choice for Iraq’s governing Shia bloc, Al Jazeera reported. The outlet said he had also been viewed as preferable by the United States compared with former Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.

Since taking office, al-Zaidi has launched an anticorruption campaign that has led to the detention of senior political figures on suspicion of corruption, according to Al Jazeera. His early diplomacy has focused on the two countries that have strongly influenced Iraq since the 2003 US-led invasion.

During his Washington visit in mid-July, Iraq announced dozens of agreements and partnerships with US companies, Al Jazeera reported. The deals included plans linked to reviving a dormant Iraqi-Syrian oil pipeline, a step the US Department of State welcomed, according to the report.

Al Jazeera reported that al-Zaidi has framed Iraq’s relationship with the United States as one he wants to shift from a security-centered partnership toward broader economic cooperation. The trip suggested he is trying to deepen trust between Baghdad and Washington while avoiding a break with Tehran.

Iran remains central to Iraq’s economy and security

Iraq still depends heavily on Iranian natural gas and electricity, while trade between the two countries is worth more than $12bn a year, Al Jazeera reported. The outlet said those ties make Iraq one of Iran’s largest trading partners.

Religious and cultural links also run deep, according to Al Jazeera, with millions of Iranian Shia pilgrims crossing into Iraq each year to visit holy sites. The funeral procession route for Iran’s slain Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei through Najaf and Karbala reflected those ties, the outlet reported.

Tehran has built close relationships with influential Shia parties and armed groups in Iraq, giving it leverage inside Baghdad’s political and security structures, Al Jazeera reported. The United States has pressed Iraq to bring Iran-aligned armed groups more firmly under state control, according to the outlet.

Al Jazeera reported that those armed groups have played a military role alongside Tehran during the continuing US-Israel war on Iran. The same groups also form an important part of Iraq’s security forces, leaving al-Zaidi with a difficult internal security challenge, according to the report.

Kurdish groups remain a sensitive issue

Al Jazeera reported that al-Zaidi has also sought to improve Iraq’s uneven relations with Gulf Arab states and Turkiye, presenting Baghdad as a link between rival regional powers. That effort is expected to shape his Tehran discussions.

One sensitive issue is the future of Iranian Kurdish opposition groups based in northern Iraq, where Baghdad does not exercise direct control, according to Al Jazeera. Tehran considers those groups a security threat and has repeatedly struck them by air since the war began on February 28, the outlet reported.

Iran has demanded that Iraq prevent the groups from using Iraqi territory, accusing them of receiving support from the United States and Israel’s Mossad to foment unrest through cross-border attacks, according to Al Jazeera. The report said al-Zaidi’s visit is unlikely to produce sharp foreign policy changes, because Iraq’s stability depends on keeping working relations with both Iran and the United States.

This story draws on original reporting from Al Jazeera.