A leading Arab newspaper stressed that Iranian President Hassan Rouhani's visit to Baghdad which was declared three weeks ago is highly important and displays Iran's power to Washington and certain regional states. RNA - "Declaration of the visit since three weeks ago (despite US President Donald Trump's secret trip to Iraq), preparations for the visit by the Iranian officials and the type of agreements to be signed all indicate that Iran wants to send a message to different countries that it is the strongest side in Iraq and enjoys political, economic and military influence in the country," al-Arabi al-Jadid quoted Ahmed al-Hamdani, a political expert, as saying on Monday.
Hamdani believes that the visit is a show of power by Iran and a message to Washington and certain regional states.
President Rouhani arrived in Iraq on Monday in order to boost bilateral ties between the two neighbors amid US sanctions against the Islamic Republic.
Rouhani traveled to Baghdad to hold talks with Iraqi officials. A high-ranking delegation is accompanying the president.
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and his deputy Seyed Abbas Araqchi as well as Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zangeneh and Central Bank Governor Abdolnasser Hemmati have all - in their recent trips to Iraq - made preparations for Rouhani's upcoming visit.
It is Rouhani’s first visit to Iraq during his tenure.
Zarif who has traveled to Baghdad on Saturday to make preparations for the visit said that third party interference might not leave a negative impact on the relations between Tehran and Baghdad.
“Iran and Iraq are two neighboring states and no other country is entitled to meddle with the historical ties between these two neighbors,” Zarif told reporters in Baghdad on Saturday night, adding that those third-party states which seek to undermine the Tehran-Baghdad ties through meddling “are wasting time and may not affect the Iran-Iraq relations through such interferences”.
The minister said the two states’ officials are due to discuss expansion of cooperation in various economic, transit, energy and industrial grounds during President Rouhani’s visit to Iraq, adding that the trip would end up in the conclusion of serious agreements between the two countries.
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