Iran’s Foreign Minister in Iraq for Talks
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif arrived in Iraq late Sunday as part of a tour of regional countries that took him earlier to Kuwait and Qatar.
The top Iranian diplomat is going to meet senior Iraqi officials on Monday to discuss a range of regional and international issues.
Zarif and his entourage who arrived in the Iraqi city of Najaf on Sunday night headed to the holy city of Karbala to make a pilgrimage to the holy shrine of Imam Hussein (AS), the third Shiite Imam.
The Iranian delegation will return to Najaf to visit the holy shrine of Imam Ali (AS) and have a meeting with senior Shiite clerics, including Grand Ayatollah Seyed Ali al-Sistani.
Later on Monday, Foreign Minister Zarif will travel to capital Baghdad to meet Iraqi President Fouad Masoum, Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, Parliament Speaker Salim al-Jabouri and Foreign Minister Ibrahim Al Jaafari.
The Iranian and Iraqi officials are expected to discuss the bilateral, regional and international issues, as well as the conclusion of nuclear negotiations between Iran and the Group 5+1 (Russia, China, the US, Britain, France and Germany).
Iran and the Group 5+1 (also known as the P5+1 or E3+3) finalized the text of a lasting agreement on Tehran's nuclear energy program in Vienna, Austria, on July 14. Later, the 15-memebr United Nations Security Council unanimously passed a resolution endorsing the text of the deal.
