UPDATE - Iranian president visits Iraq for talks

UPDATES WITH ROUHANI'S STATEMENTS

By Ibrahim Saleh

BAGHDAD (AA) – Iranian President Hassan Rouhani arrived in Baghdad on Monday on a three-day visit to Iraq for talks with Iraqi officials.

Leading a high-profile delegation, Rouhani was welcomed at Baghdad International Airport by Iraqi Foreign Minister Mohammed al-Hakim, according to a source with the Iraqi Foreign Ministry.

Upon arrival, Rouhani visited the shrine of Imam al-Kadhim in the city of Kadhimiya before meeting his Iraqi counterpart Barham Salih.

The Iranian leader will hold talks with Prime Minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi, Parliament Speaker Mohammed al-Halbousi and prominent Shia cleric Ali al-Sistani during his visit.

A host of Memorandums of Understanding (MoU) are expected to be signed on the sidelines of Rouhani's visit.

In pre-arrival statements, Rouhani said Iraq has many sources that can be used to supply Iran's needs.

"Iran is interested in further developing interactions with Iraq," he was quoted as saying by the official IRNA News Agency.

"Building industrial towns, environmental issues like dust winds will be among the topics both sides can jointly work on," he said.

The Iranian leader said he hopes his visit to Iraq would benefit both Tehran and Baghdad in health, treatment, trade, investment, transit, tourism and regional security fields.

"Iran-Iraq relations are not comparable with the one Iraq is leading with such occupiers as U.S.," Rouhani said, referring to U.S. President Donald Trump's secret visit to Iraq late last year.

Iraq and Iran have enjoyed strong relations since the toppling of former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein in 2003 by a U.S.-led invasion.

Rouhani's visit appears to be highly focused on economic aspects in an effort by Tehran to boost trade and investment between the two sides at a time Iran is facing a raft of U.S. sanctions.

Trade between the two countries is estimated at $12 billion.

In November, the two sides said they were seeking to increase the volume of trade to $20 billion.