Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian to visit Kurdistan Region during Iraq trip

NEWSROOM — Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian will visit Iraq on Wednesday for his first foreign trip since taking office in late July, with a planned stop in Erbil to meet with Kurdistan Regional authorities.

Nazem Dabbagh, the Kurdistan Regional Government’s representative in Tehran, told 964media that Pezeshkian will arrive in Baghdad on Sept. 11. Dabbagh said the visit aims to strengthen diplomatic relations between the two countries. After meeting with Iraqi officials in Baghdad, “Pezeshkian is expected to travel to Erbil.”

On Aug. 28, Iran’s Ambassador to Baghdad, Mohammad Kazem Al-e-Sadeq, announced the president’s visit during an interview with the IRNA news agency, noting that Pezeshkian would travel in response to an official invitation from Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ Al-Sudani. Pezeshkian, who was sworn in as Iran’s ninth president on July 30, said his administration would focus on a foreign policy aimed at reducing global tensions and strengthening ties with neighboring and allied countries.

In March 2023, Iran and Iraq signed a comprehensive security agreement, overseen by Al-Sudani, to address challenges posed by the activities of Iranian Kurdish opposition groups based in Iraq’s Kurdistan region. Under increasing pressure from Tehran, Kurdish Iranian opposition parties have recently begun relocating from their strongholds in Sulaymaniyah to a controlled camp in the region, a process that remains ongoing.

On Sunday, Maj. Gen. Mohammad Pakpour, commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Ground Forces, told Fars News Agency that all “terrorist groups” in Iraq’s Kurdistan region had been disarmed and expelled, attributing the development to the “bravery of the IRGC Ground Forces” and the security agreement signed with the Iraqi government. Pakpour added that the IRGC is on high alert along all of Iran’s borders and is prepared for any potential conflict.

Pezeshkian, a 69-year-old heart surgeon and veteran lawmaker, won Iran’s presidential election on July 6, defeating a hardline opponent in a crucial vote held amid heightened domestic and international tensions. He took office following a snap election called after the sudden death of former President Ebrahim Raisi, who, along with Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and other officials, died in a helicopter crash in northwest Iran in May.