Iran's Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf on Wednesday began a three-day visit to Iraq, where he stressed the importance of strengthening the "new order" in the region and called for cooperation among all countries without foreign interference. His remarks come at a sensitive time for Iraq, which faces American pressure to disarm factions close to Tehran, according to reports.
Speaking from the site near Baghdad airport where Iranian general Qassem Soleimani was killed in a 2020 US strike, Ghalibaf said: "Our trip to Iraq today is aimed at strengthening the new order in the region and accelerating the strengthening of cooperation between all countries in the region without foreign interference." He also said that "resistance in Iraq is... one of the elements of this country's power," and that it "has gone beyond the borders of Iran and Iraq... and has become global."
Ghalibaf's visit comes as Iraq's Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi, who took office three months ago with US backing, has pledged to restrict weapons to the control of the state. According to reports, al-Zaidi has given armed factions until September 30 to hand over their weapons, coinciding with the scheduled end of the US-led coalition's mission against the Islamic State group. However, some of the most powerful factions, and those closest to Iran, refuse to cooperate with the deadline.
Ghalibaf is scheduled to meet al-Zaidi later on Wednesday and then hold a meeting with the Coordination Framework, the largest bloc in parliament, composed of Shia parties with varying degrees of proximity to Tehran.
The visit occurs against a backdrop of heightened tensions. Reports indicate that Iraq has been pulled into the Middle East war, with pro-Iran factions launching attacks on US interests, which Washington has responded to with deadly strikes. Iran has also shelled positions belonging to Iranian Kurdish opposition groups, according to the same reports. Iraq faces mounting challenges in maintaining a balance between Iran and the United States, and since the US invasion in 2003 it has been an arena of rivalry between the two powers.
Separately, Ghalibaf was quoted by the Tasnim news agency as saying that Iran must always be prepared for confrontation, otherwise any contacts or dialogue with the United States will be fruitless. "If we are not prepared for war, then negotiations with the US will be fruitless," he said. He also attributed regional instability to Washington, stating that "it is Washington and the war it unleashed that are causing instability in the region and disrupting normal trade routes." Ghalibaf added that "the United States is currently in a state of paralysis and will lose credibility regardless of whether it withdraws from the war or continues it."
On Thursday, Ghalibaf is expected to travel to the holy city of Karbala to participate in ceremonies marking 40 days since the funeral of former Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei, who was killed in US-Israeli strikes on February 28, according to reports.