PM Masrour Barzani to meet Acting Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – On Friday, Kurdistan Region’s Prime Minister Masrour Barzani will welcome Acting Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri Kani at 11:00 AM during his visit to Erbil. Both will attend a joint press conference following the meeting.

According to the visit’s itinerary, Acting Foreign Minister Bagheri arrived at Erbil International Airport at 9:00 am, where he was greeted by Minister of Interior Rebar Ahmed, Safeen Dizayee, head of the KRG’s Department of Foreign Relations, and several government officials.

Throughout his visit, Ali Bagheri is scheduled to meet separately with Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) President Masoud Barzani and Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani.

The discussions with senior officials of the Kurdistan Region will focus on the development of bilateral relations in trade, political, social, and security areas.

Bagheri arrived in Baghdad on Thursday, where he met with Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein. Prior to this, he visited Lebanon and Syria, meeting with officials from both countries. This marks Bagheri’s first official visit to Erbil as the Acting Foreign Minister of Iran.

Following the deaths of former Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian in a helicopter crash, Bagheri assumed the role of Acting Foreign Minister.

In an exclusive interview with Kurdistan24 on Tuesday, June 11, Bagheri highlighted Tehran’s commitment to strengthening relations with the Kurdistan Region.

He mentioned, "In the next 10 days following the untimely incident, both Ayatollah Raisi and Amir-Abdollahian were scheduled to visit Iraq. Ayatollah Raisi paid special attention to the countries of the region, neighboring countries, and Muslim countries within the framework of the Islamic Republic of Iran's neighborhood policy, which was drafted by Ayatollah Raisi himself.”

Bagheri emphasized the importance of economic relations between Iran and the Kurdistan Region, stating, "Our relations with Iraq and the Iraqi Kurdistan Region are very satisfactory, and a significant amount of economic relations between Iran and Iraq come from the Kurdistan Region. There is a lot of clarity about the development of relations between the two sides in the future."

He added, “The Islamic Republic of Iran attaches great importance to the development of relations with Iraq and the Kurdistan Region.”

Prime Minister Barzani attended the funeral for the late Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, and their entourage at the Consulate General of the Islamic Republic of Iran in Erbil on Tuesday, May 21.

Reflecting on the tragic incident, Prime Minister Barzani said, "We were expecting to welcome the Iranian President to Erbil in a few days as part of his planned visit to Iraq, but unfortunately, this tragic incident occurred, causing the death of the President, the Foreign Minister, and the accompanying delegate. This incident has been a great upset.”

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, who died in a helicopter crash, was buried in his hometown of Mashhad following a two-day funeral ceremony attended by thousands.

Read More: Iranian President Raisi, delegation die in helicopter crash

Raisi, 63, died on Sunday May 19 along with the Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and six other individuals when their helicopter crashed in a mountainous region in northwestern Iran, returning from a dam inauguration ceremony on the Azerbaijan border.