Iran President visits Erbil, discuss key bilateral issues

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and President of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq Nechirvan Barzani have held talks in Erbil on key bilateral issues.

Heading a high-ranking delegation, Pezeshkian arrived in the Kurdistan’s capital on Thursday on the second day of his three-day visit to Iraq and was welcomed by Barzani upon his arrival.

This is the first official visit to Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdistan region by an Iranian president since the victory of the Islamic Revolution in 1979.

Pezeshkian has earlier hailed good relations between Tehran and the Kurdistan Region and vowed to make efforts to further improve mutual ties.

After Erbil, the Iranian president plans to travel to the city of Sulaymaniyah in northern Iraq to meet with the leaders of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan. Pezeshkian is also scheduled to visit the city of Basra, the economic capital of Iraq, as well as the holy cities of Najaf and Karbala.

On the first day of his visit, the Iranian president held talks with his Iraqi counterpart Abdul Latif, Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ Al Sudani and President of the Supreme Judicial Council Faiq Zidan in Baghdad. He also met Iranian nationals and Iraqi tradesmen.

In the presence of the Iranian president and Iraqi prime minister, Tehran and Baghdad signed 14 documents to expand cooperation in various economic, commercial, cultural and social sectors.