Iranian President visits Iraq: Strengthening alliance, breaking the US siege?

Iran's goal in this trip is to promote bilateral relations, while breaking the strangling cycle of US sanctions.

The “special” relationship

The AP news agency reported that Mr. Hassan Rouhani arrived in the capital Baghdad on March 11, starting his first official visit as President of Iran to the country that Tehran fought in a bloody war many years ago, then supported them in the fight against the self-proclaimed Islamic State (IS) organization that is now coming to an end.

Iraqi President Barham Salih and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani. Photo: IRNA

President Rouhani was accompanied on his three-day trip by a high-ranking delegation of political and economic officials and was warmly welcomed by Iraqi Foreign Minister Mohammed Ali Al-Hakim upon landing in Baghdad.

During the trip, Mr. Rouhani visited the Imam Kadhim shrine - the 7th of 12 clerics respected by the Shiite community, met with President Barham Salih, Prime Minister Abdel Abdul Mehdi, and met with politicians and Shiite leaders...

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif added that during Mr. Rouhani's visit, the two countries plan to sign many important memorandums of understanding in the fields of transit, energy cooperation, joint industrial projects, etc.

According to Mr. Rouhani's official website, before departing for Iraq, speaking at Mehrabad Airport in Tehran, the Iranian President highlighted the close alliance between Iran and Iraq, affirming that the goal of the trip was to "deepen bilateral relations."

“The relationship between Iran and Iraq is very special. In recent years, the Iranian people have passed a test with pride: wherever the peoples of the region are facing problems and request help from the Iranian country and government, we will enthusiastically help them,” Rouhani stressed.

This is believed to be a reference to the fact that since Mr. Rouhani was elected in 2013, Iraq has relied on the help of Iranian paramilitary forces to fight IS, after the terrorist group captured the city of Mosul as well as other territories in both Iraq and Syria.

In response to those warm words, Iraqi President Barham Salih also thanked Iran for its “help” and affirmed that he was “lucky” to have such a neighbor.

The leader also noted that Mr. Rouhani's visit is of great importance, bringing benefits to both sides.

“Iraq’s interests lie in maintaining very good relations with Iran. I have repeated this several times deliberately.

We Iraqis have an interest in strengthening relations with Iran, and we must consider it a key issue in all our regional relations.”

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani

Responding to the US, demonstrating superiority in the region

President Rouhani's visit to Iraq comes as the US-led coalition tries to defeat IS in its last stronghold in Syria.

In addition, IS has carried out hit-and-run attacks across Iraq in the past year, and there are concerns that a new resurgence could occur next year.

Tens of thousands of IS fighters have fled Baghuz or surrendered and could pose a danger. Iran has stressed that it is one of Iraq's main backers in the fight against IS and Tehran wants to enter a new phase in Tehran-Baghdad relations.

Iran is seeking support from Iraq as it faces a pressure campaign from US President Donald Trump following his decision to withdraw the United States from Tehran's nuclear deal with world powers.

US President Donald Trump speaks during a surprise visit to Iraq in late December 2018. Photo: Reuters

Mr. Rouhani did not spare words for Iran's relationship with its neighbor Iraq, and affirmed that this relationship cannot be compared with Iraq's relationship with "the same aggressive country as the United States".

“America is despised in this region. The bombs that the Americans dropped on the people of Iraq, Syria and other countries cannot be forgotten,” Mr. Rouhani said.

According to analysts, Tehran sees the US military presence at the "gateway" of Iraq as a threat, something that could damage its influence over Baghdad.

Not only that, Iran also sees Iraq as a possible “path” to bypass US sanctions. Last year, Iran’s exports to Iraq reached nearly $9 billion. Tehran hopes to increase trade between the two neighbors, currently around $13 billion, to $20 billion in the near future.

This is consistent with comments by Iraqi political analyst Hisham al-Hashemi, who said that Iran's leadership is looking to boost trade with Baghdad and discuss ways to "circumvent US sanctions."

In such a context, it is easy to see that Iraq - a country with a Shiite majority - is having to skillfully "walk the tightrope" in an effort to maintain good relations with important partners Iran and the US, when these two countries are "enemies" of each other.

Baghdad has been welcoming visiting neighbors while also facing pressure from Washington, which wants it to avoid getting too close to the neighboring Islamic Republic, especially after the US withdrew from the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran and imposed sanctions on Tehran last year.

Baghdad has been granted a limited waiver so it can continue to buy electricity and natural gas from Iran, but Washington has urged Iraq to turn to American companies to become energy independent.

Up to this point, Washington has been relatively quiet about Mr. Rouhani's trip, even though they know that the Iranian media will see this as an opportunity to show off what some sites call a "strong blow to Mr. Trump."

Iran’s main goal is to demonstrate its power and influence in the region, and to gain more leverage on the Middle East chessboard. With the apparent defeat of IS, another piece has been removed from the chessboard, and Iran wants to fill that void.