SULAIMANI (ESTA) — Iraqi foreign minister Fuad Hussein visited Tehran on Tuesday to meet with Iranian officials, according to the ministry of foreign affairs.
Hussein will meet with new Iranian president Ebrahim Raisi and other senior officials during his visit to Iran, the foreign ministry said in a statement.
He will discuss with the Iranian officials bilateral relations and security situation in the region, the statement read.
Hussein will also hand over an invitation from Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi to the Iranian resident to attend a regional summit in Baghdad.
Baghdad is to host a regional summit late this month, according to the prime minister’s office. But an exact date has not been announced.
French President Emmanuel Macron will also attend the summit, the premier office added.
It would be Macron’s second visit to the country in less than a year.
The Iraqi foreign ministry said Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Saudi Arabia’s King Salman had also been invited.
Iraq is seeking to establish itself as a mediator between Arab countries and Iran.
Iraq, an ally of both Tehran and Washington, has been an arena for bitter rivalry between Iran and the U.S., a key ally of Saudi Arabia.
Baghdad has this year hosted senior Iranian and Saudi officials in efforts to help Tehran and Riyadh restore their relations, which collapsed in 2016.
A rebuilding of ties between those two regional heavyweights would benefit Iraq, which regularly sees rocket attacks by pro-Iran groups against U.S. interests, including troops sent by Washington to fight the Sunni extremist Islamic State group (ISIS).
Iraq officially declared victory over ISIS in 2017, but 2,500 U.S. soldiers, alongside other coalition troops, remain in the country, and the jihadists continue to carry out attacks.
