Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi arrived in Iran on July 23, 2026, for his first official visit to the country since becoming prime minister in May. He met with Iran's president, Masoud Pezeshkian, and the two signed agreements on foreign affairs, finance, the economy, and energy. The two-day visit, first reported by the Iraqi News Agency (INA) and confirmed by Reuters (Al Jazeera), came just days after al-Zaidi finished his first official visit to the United States.

Al-Zaidi and Pezeshkian signed several agreements and memoranda of understanding. A memorandum of understanding is a loosely written agreement that shows two sides intend to work together, but it is not as strict or binding as a formal treaty. Pezeshkian said a comprehensive strategic cooperation plan would serve as a roadmap for expanding relations between Tehran and Baghdad, and stressed that the security of Iran and Iraq was closely linked (Al Jazeera). Al-Zaidi, writing on X, said he would hold talks with senior Iranian officials on cooperation, shared interests, regional developments, and security.

The Iraqi prime minister thanked Iran for its support in Iraq's fight against ISIL (ISIS) and reaffirmed Iraq's commitment to security cooperation with Tehran. He stated that Iraq would not accept hostile action against Iran by any party (Al Jazeera).

The visit is part of a broader regional tour aimed at boosting economic and political ties, according to The National (The National). It comes during an especially unstable time in the region. Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was killed earlier in July 2026. His funeral procession traveled through the Iraqi cities of Najaf and Karbala, which are holy to Shia Muslims. That passage highlighted the religious ties binding the two neighbors.

The connections between Iraq and Iran are deep and wide-ranging. Trade between the two countries is worth more than $12 billion a year. Iraq depends on Iran for natural gas and electricity, a reliance that has continued even though the U.S. has imposed sanctions on Iran — penalties meant to restrict trade with Iran's energy sector. Millions of Iranian Shia pilgrims cross the border each year to visit holy sites in Iraq. Iran has also built close ties with influential Shia political parties and armed groups in Iraq that form the backbone of Iraq's security forces (Al Jazeera).

Political analyst Ghaleb Al-Daami told Al Jazeera that al-Zaidi's visit came as Baghdad tries to keep relationships with both the United States and Iran, which are currently at war with each other. Al-Daami said the visit had two main goals: first, to tell Iran to stop supporting armed groups in Iraq; and second, to deliver a message from the United States, which has said it supports Iraq acting as a mediator — a go-between trying to help two sides in conflict find common ground — amid the ongoing U.S. war on Iran (Al Jazeera).

The order of al-Zaidi's trips tells its own story. His first two official visits as prime minister, to Washington and then Tehran in quick succession, put Iraq in the position of a potential go-between for two countries at war. The agreements signed in Tehran, especially those on energy and finance, will be watched closely in Western capitals alongside al-Zaidi's security assurances to Iran. Iraq's reliance on Iranian energy gives Tehran lasting leverage. Al-Zaidi's promise that Iraq would not allow hostile action against Iran strengthens that imbalance, even as his government reportedly pushes Tehran to stop backing armed groups in Iraq.

The broader context here is an Iran navigating a change in leadership after Khamenei's death while at war, and an Iraqi government trying to make its own decisions while caught between a superpower and a powerful neighbor with deep influence over Iraq's economy, politics, and security. Whether Baghdad can keep playing a mediating role, or whether the demands of Washington and Tehran will force Iraq to pick a side, is the question that will shape Iraq's foreign policy in the months ahead.