Iraq’s Prime Minister Ali Al-Zaidi concluded a visit to Tehran following important bilateral meetings with Iran’s president Masud Pezeshkian, parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and other senior officials, the Iraqi prime minister’s office confirmed on social media platform X. During the visit, Al-Zaidi signed several agreements on international road freight transport, maritime transport and to open a rail link between the two countries.

The announced rail connection will run from Iran’s Kermanshah and Khosravi through Iraq’s Khanaqin to the capital Baghdad. Al-Zaidi described the visit as a reflection of deep ties between the two countries and called it a “bridge of friendship” between their peoples. The report also notes that immediately before travelling to neighboring Iran, Al-Zaidi visited Washington, D.C. and Texas where he signed deals with Western oil companies aimed at reviving a pipeline that would avoid the Strait of Hormuz.