Overview
- Iranian parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf arrived in Baghdad on Wednesday for a three-day visit and was received by Iraqi parliamentary officials before meeting senior leaders and visiting the memorial where Qassem Soleimani and Abu Mahdi al‑Muhandis were killed.
- Ghalibaf framed the trip as building a 'new regional order' and urged deeper political, security and economic cooperation between Iran and Iraq to reduce outside influence.
- Baghdad has set a September 30 deadline for militias to hand over weapons and integrate into state forces, but several powerful Iran‑backed groups have refused to disarm, leaving the outcome unresolved.
- The visit coincides with talks over allowing Iraqi crude to transit the Strait of Hormuz and with Iraq expanding exports through Turkey's Ceyhan route as oil flows and government revenue have fallen sharply.
- Iran has recently intensified contacts with Iraqi militias, including an IRGC Quds Force visit last week, a pattern that raises the risk of political friction in Baghdad and could constrain Prime Minister Ali al‑Zaidi's effort to centralize security authority.