Iraq’s prime minister visits Iran after trip to US
According to official statements from both sides, discussions between [Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian] will focus on bilateral relations with several memoranda of understanding scheduled to be signed aimed at improving ties between Iraq and Iran.
Energy is expected to be a critical issue in those talks.
Timing matters here for two reasons. First, the visit comes amid the escalation between the US and Iran, and Iraqi officials have said that helping bring an end to that escalation is part of the purpose of the trip. Second, the sequencing of the prime minister’s travel is significant. He was recently in the United States, is now visiting Iran and will go on to Turkiye with the region’s confrontational scenarios likely to feature in all three stops.
Iraqi officials say the prime minister is not carrying a message from the US but will talk about the Iraqi position alongside the American position that they have been updated about during his recent visit to the United States.
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Iraq has lost more than $40bn in revenue during US-Israel war on Iran, official says
Muzhar Saleh, financial adviser to Iraq’s prime minister, has told the AFP news agency that the country has suffered a huge hit to revenues since the US and Israel’s war on Iran began in February.
“For Iraq, due to a 90 percent drop in its oil exports… in addition to the decline in growth rates… the estimated loss was between $40bn and $45bn up to June 2026,” Saleh said.
That figure could climb to $50bn if the Strait of Hormuz remains closed, he added.
Before hostilities began, Iraq was producing roughly four million barrels of oil per day (bpd), around 3.5 million of which were exported daily, mostly via the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran’s blockade of the waterway has choked off shipments and forced Iraq to cut oil production. With Hormuz closed, Iraq has only been able to export limited volumes to neighbouring Turkey and Syria.
Iraqi Oil Minister Bassem Mohammed Khudair said in a television interview on Tuesday that his ministry “used to put between $7bn and $8bn a month” into state coffers. “Today, we do not exceed $1.5bn,” he added.
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Iraqi PM and Iran’s president hold talks in Tehran, pledge closer ties
Iraqi Prime Minister Ali Faleh al-Zaidi held talks with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian in Tehran, discussing bilateral relations, economic cooperation and regional security.
Al-Zaidi said his visit reflects the depth of ties between the two nations, calling it “a bridge of friendship between the two peoples”.
He affirmed that Iraq’s and Iran’s security are “intertwined” and pledged that Iraqi territory would not be used to threaten Iran, recalling Iran’s support during Iraq’s war against ISIS. He called for expanded joint investments.
Pezeshkian thanked Iraq for its gesture during Ayatollah Khamenei’s funeral procession, and stressed the deep commonalities between the two countries, noting that stability benefits bilateral development and highlighting opportunities for joint investment.
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