Iran-Iraq Relations

Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi met with Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi in New York on Tuesday evening on the sidelines of the 77th session of the United Nations General Assembly and discussed a host of issues.

Iran’s interior minister says the Khosravi crossing on the border with Iraq will not accept any Arbaeen pilgrims until further notice.

All Iranian borders with Iraq have been closed until further notice due to congestion days before the Arbaeen religious ceremony, an Iranian official announced on Friday.

Iranian Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi has held meetings with Iraqi officials in Baghdad to explore ways of facilitating the Arbaeen ceremonies in which millions of people participate including many from Iran.

Iran’s interior minister is on an official visit to Iraq, which is hosting the massive Arba’een walk and pilgrimage joined by millions of Shia Muslims from Iran and elsewhere in the world.

The governor of Iran’s western Ilam Province says necessary arrangements have been made to enable the pilgrims holding emergency passports to cross the border into Iraq, and there is currently no issue facing their journey.

The Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ has in a statement, expressed pleasure that Iraq has weathered a ‘great sedition’ in the country following the recent deadly clashes in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad.

Iran has resumed its flights to the Iraqi city of Najaf hours after officials announced the reopening of land borders to the country, as calm returns to the Iraqi capital following a wave of deadly violence there.

Iran reopens its land borders to Iraq, allowing Karbala-bound pilgrims to enter the Western neighbor as calm begins to return to the Iraqi capital of Baghdad, following two days of deadly protests.

The Iranian deputy interior minister for security affairs and the head of the Arbaeen committee says the border with Iraq has been closed after unrest gripped the Iraqi capital Baghdad.

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian, and his Iraqi counterpart exchanged views on border security, as well as necessary measures to counter hostile, separatist and terrorist groups in Iraq and the Kurdistan region.

A convoy of the lovers of Imam Hussein (AS), the third Shia Imam, from all provinces across Iran is moving on the Bandar Imam Khomeini route towards the city of Shalamcheh on the border with Iraq.

Pilgrims of the Iraqi holy city of Karbala can travel from the Iranian capital Tehran via train from next week, the Iranian railway transportation company said.

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi has underlined the need for Iraqi political factions to maintain their unity and make a deal to end the current political impasse through dialog.

An Iranian official says over 6,000 pilgrims are currently entering Iraq from Iran’s western Mehran border crossing on a daily basis, as the neighboring country is preparing to host a large Shia mourning ceremony in a few weeks.

The chairman of the Iran-Iraq Chamber of Commerce says the value of trade between Tehran and Baghdad will reach the 9-billion-dollar mark in seven months, despite the tough US economic sanctions in place against Iran.

President Ebrahim Raisi pays tribute to ex-Iranian prisoners of war, who had been taken hostage by the army of the ex-Iraqi regime during the 1980s military campaign against the Islamic Republic, praising them as symbols of all the values and lofty ideals of the Islamic Revolution.

A top Iranian military official says Iran is after boosting defense cooperation with Iraq, stressing that regional dynamics call for increased joint work.

Iraq’s Ministry of Electricity says the Arab country needs between 50 to 55 million cubic meters of natural gas from Iran, and that Baghdad is in talks with Tehran to increase its gas imports from the neighboring country.

The Iraqi Ministry of Electricity says it is in talks with Iran for securing a rise in imports of natural gas from its eastern neighbor as Baghdad works to inaugurate new power plants fueled by natural gas.

The Iraqi ministry of energy says, Iran will export some 400 megawatts of electricity to Iraq in five years.

34 years ago today, 275 people were killed and at least 2,700 others were injured in chemical attacks by the Iraqi Baathist regime on the villages of Zardeh, Sarmil, and Nesar Deireh in the western Iranian Kermanshah Province.

The Iranian foreign minister has sympathized with the Iraqi government and nation over the deadly attack in the Iraqi Kurdistan region.

The spokesperson of the Iranian foreign ministry has condemned the Wednesday shelling of the Iraqi city of Zakho, which resulted in the death and injury of a number of civilians.

Iraqi President Barham Salih has said Baghdad wants compromise between Iran and Arab countries.