Iranian President Hassan Rouhani’s trip to Baghdad appears to aimed at finding a “loophole” in the American sanctions against his country.
A senior Iranian official accompanying Rouhani told Reuters that Iraq was “another channel for Iran to bypass America’s unjust sanctions ... this trip will provide opportunities for Iran’s economy”.
Rouhani kicked off his first official visit to Iraq on Monday by holding talks with President Barham Salih, who stressed his country’s neutrality from regional and international conflicts.
Salih stated that his country’s victory against the ISIS terrorist group was “incomplete,” urging more regional efforts to counter the phenomenon.
"The victory that was achieved against ISIS group in Iraq was an important and huge victory, but incomplete as the eradication of that sick, deviated line of thought and extremism require more sustainable regional efforts and cooperation," he said.
Rouhani, for his part, said there were many opportunities for vast cooperation with Baghdad.
Salih added that Baghdad's central location made it crucial to resolving regional issues, saying a "stable Iraq will lead to stability in the entire region."
"We want to be united countries, not against others, but attracting others to our unity," he stressed.
Iraqi presidential spokesman Loqman Feely told Asharq Al-Awsat that the talks covered the most important pending files between Iraq and Iran. They also focused on economic ties and regional developments, most notably the Syrian conflict.
Rouhani later met with Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi. They signed several memorandums of understanding, the premier’s office said in a statement. They included agreements on oil, trade, health, and a railway linking the southern Iraqi oil city of Basra and the Iranian border town of Shalamcheh.
National security professor at the Nahrain University Dr. Hussein Allawi said that Rouhani’s visit comes at a time when Iran’s conservatives were holding more sway over the president’s reformist current.
Iraq, he told Asharq Al-Awsat, represents the first link of Iran’s national security policies given its interests in its neighbor and the allies it enjoys there.
Rouhani will focus on Iran’s economic gains during his trip to counter the growing conservative influence, he explained.
