Iran president deepens Iraq ties on first foreign trip

BAGHDAD: Iran and Iraq on Wednesday signed more than a dozen agreements to deepen already strong ties as Masoud Pezeshkian visited Baghdad on his first foreign trip as president of the Islamic republic.

Speaking at a press conference alongside Pezeshkian, Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani said both governments opposed any expansion of the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.

“In light of the escalation that the region has been going through, we have spoken a lot about the importance of stability,” Sudani said, blaming Israel for the regional spillover of the war.

Pezeshkian announced that “14 cooperation memorandums were signed between Iran and Iraq, which is the starting point of the expansion of cooperation”.

“If we are together, we will avoid falling into the fire,” he added.

Pezeshkian has vowed to make relations with neighbouring states a priority as he seeks to ease Iran´s international isolation and mitigate the impact of US-led sanctions on its economy.

His visit comes after Western powers on Tuesday announced fresh sanctions on Iran for supplying Russia with short-range missiles for use against Ukraine.

Hours before Pezeshkian arrived, an explosion rocked a US diplomatic base at Baghdad´s international airport but caused no casualties, according to the US embassy.