Iranian President Hassan Rouhani arrived in Baghdad on Monday on an official visit that will mainly tackle the repercussions of US sanctions on his country.
This is Rouhani’s first trip to Iraq since his assumption to power in 2013 and the third for an Iranian President.
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammed Javad Zarif arrived Sunday in Iraq where he held talks with his counterpart Mohammed Ali al-Hakim to set the stage for Rouhani’s trip.
Iraqi politicians and experts told Asharq Al-Awsat it would be difficult for Baghdad to abide by the demands of Tehran that seeks to push Iraq towards a battle with the United States.
“The vision of Prime Minister Adil Abdul Mahdi towards such issues asserts that Baghdad would not be drawn into policies that contradict the Iraqi interest,” MP Abdullah al-Kharbit told Asharq Al-Awsat.
He said that during Rouhani’s trip to Baghdad Iraq and Iran could sign a large number of agreements.
Ihsan al-Shammari, head of the Iraqi Center for Political Thought said, “The visit constitutes a turning point in the nature of Iraqi-Iranian relations, particularly that it comes amid an international mobilization against Iran.”
He said that Tehran could benefit from Baghdad to restore its relations with Washington.
“Baghdad might become the scene of a new round of upcoming talks between the US and Iran concerning the nuclear crisis,” he said.
For his part, economic expert Abdul Rahman Al-Shamari said Iraq was not ready to become part of the economic war between the US and Iran, because Baghdad is still practically in need of Washington.
Zarif said that during Rouhani’s three-day visit to Iraq, the President would meet with chief Shiite cleric Ali Sistani.
However, the religious body in the city of Najaf neither confirmed nor denied Zarif’s statement.
Sistani had refused to hold talks with political figures since 2015, except for UN representatives responsible for humanitarian works.
The last political figure that Sistani refused to meet was French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian, who visited Baghdad in January.
