Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi visited Iraq on Sunday, showing that Iraq is still a valuable partner to Tehran. The visit comes after US Secretary of State Marco Rubio spotlighted the threat of Iranian-backed militias in Iraq.
According to Iranian media Mehr News, “Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said Saturday that the top Iranian diplomat Abbas Araghchi will visit neighboring Iraq on Sunday.”
The report says that Baghaei announced the visit on Saturday night, and the fact that it wasn’t announced earlier would appear to mean that Iran is either responding to something urgently or that they were concerned about revealing the visit, as usually these types of visits would be planned in advance.
Rumors swirl in Baghdad about a raid by security forces on the Green Zone
Iran’s foreign minister comes to Iraq as rumors swirl in Baghdad about a raid by security forces on the Green Zone. Rumors suggest Iraq is conducting an anti-corruption drive and has targeted some senior officials or politicians. It is not clear who has been targeted.
Some have suggested that Iraq may be targeting Sunni Arab parties, and others have suggested it could be Iranian-linked politicians. Iraq has been trying to rein in some Iranian-backed militias. Iraq’s new Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi is seeking to show that he can rein in the chaos in Iraq.
Zaidi is also seeking to head to the US in July. Cracking down on Iranian-backed militias is an important aspect of the US pressure on Iraq.
The US wants Zaidi to disarm the militias. There are a dozen major militias in Iraq, and most of them are sanctioned by the US as terrorist groups. The Iranian government spokesman stated that during the visit, “Araghchi will discuss and consult with senior Iraqi officials about bilateral relations and regional and international developments.”
Aragachi’s visit comes as Iran continues to target Gulf countries. Kuwait and Bahrain condemned Iranian aggression on Sunday morning. Other regional countries have also condemned Iranian attacks.
The US has responded to the attacks over the last two days. This means that the Iranian diplomat will be arriving amidst a crisis in the region. During the last months since the US and Israeli strikes on Iran on February 28, the Iranians have operationalized militias in Iraq to carry out hundreds of attacks.
Iran attacks Gulf states
Iran and its proxies in Iraq have carried out more than 850 attacks in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. They also attacked US diplomatic facilities in Iraq. In addition, they kidnapped a US journalist. As such, Iran turned Iraq into a front line.
Rubio condemned the Iraqi proxies when he arrived in the UAE last week, as well as at a Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) meeting in Bahrain, where the Iraqi militias were also condemned.
“The Ministers condemned attacks by Iranian proxies in Iraq against GCC countries, including drone attacks damaging civilian facilities, critical infrastructure, and energy security.
They reiterated their support for Iraq’s new government’s efforts to restrict weapons to state control and prevent non-state armed groups from using Iraqi territory to threaten neighboring countries.”
The condemnation also noted that the “ministers stressed the importance of the Government of Iraq taking all necessary measures to ensure the security and safety of all diplomatic missions in Iraq, and to protect them from any threats or attacks, in accordance with Iraq’s relevant international obligations.”
Iraq has also been in the midst of welcoming Shi’ite pilgrims for the annual Arbaeen holy events. In recent days, the Iranian IRGC Quds Force leader Esmail Ghani has also been in the news. It is not clear if any of these issues are also related to the Iranian visit, or if he is merely trying to shore up Iran’s partnership with Iraq.
Reuters contributed to this report.