Agence France-Presse reported, citing an Iraqi official, that the commander of the Quds Force in Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Esmail Qaani, is visiting Baghdad to discuss the consequences of the war in the Middle East and to meet with officials and leaders of armed factions aligned with Tehran.
Qaani will also address the “political deadlock crisis” regarding the nomination of a candidate for Iraq’s prime minister after Nouri al‑Maliki’s chances of returning to the position declined.
This is Qaani’s first disclosed foreign trip since the start of a two‑week ceasefire between Iran on one side and the United States and Israel on the other, which began on April 8.
For years, Baghdad has struggled to balance its relations with the two powerful rivals that shape its politics: Iran and the United States.
Iraq has not been spared from the fallout of the war, which lasted more than 40 days. During that period, headquarters belonging to the Popular Mobilization Forces and other Iran‑aligned Iraqi armed groups were struck in raids attributed to the United States and Israel. Meanwhile, U.S. interests were targeted by attacks claimed by Iraqi factions, and Iran carried out strikes against Iranian Kurdish opposition groups in the north of the country.
According to a senior Iraqi official, Qaani has begun “holding a series of meetings with leaders of political forces and several commanders of armed factions,” noting that “the meetings address the issue of regional de‑escalation and its impact on the Iraqi arena.”
He added that the Iranian delegation is also seeking “to coordinate positions among Tehran’s allied forces inside Iraq and to ensure that the situation does not slide into security escalation” in Iraq and the region.