Iran's new foreign minister visits Baghdad for regional summit
The summit is the latest effort by Iraq to reduce tensions between Iran and its Sunni Arab neighbors.
Iran’s new foreign minister, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, traveled to Iraq on Friday for a regional summit aimed at easing tensions with his country’s archrival, Saudi Arabia.
“An Iranian delegation led by Foreign Minister Amir-Abdollahian is to be dispatched to take part in a meeting on supporting Iraq,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Saeed Khatibzadeh said on Friday.
Amir-Abdollahian’s visit to Baghdad marks the hard-liner’s first foreign trip since replacing Mohammad Javad Zarif as Iran’s top diplomat this month. Amir-Abdollahian previously served as Iran’s deputy foreign minister for Arab and African affairs, as well as deputy chief of mission at Iran’s embassy in Baghdad.
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi has also been invited to attend the meeting on Saturday along with other Gulf leaders. Iraq hasn’t made public the list of attendees, but Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and Jordan’s King Abdullah II have publicly said they will participate. French President Emmanuel Macron will also take part, as Paris is reportedly co-organizing the summit.
