Iraq PM heads to Iran: Can Baghdad redefine its relationship with Tehran?

Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaid is visiting Tehran after a high-profile meeting with US President Donald Trump.Just days after concluding his first official visit to the United States, Iraq’s newly appointed prime minister, Ali al-Zaidi, has arrived in Iran for another high-stakes diplomatic stop.His first foreign visits after becoming prime minister in May have taken him to Washington, DC, and Tehran – seats of powers for two countries that have shaped Baghdad’s political, security and economic landscape since the Iraq" class="entity-link entity-event" data-entity-id="170084" data-entity-type="event">US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003.Together, they reflect Baghdad’s enduring challenge: maintaining relations with two countries currently engaged in a war without being caught up in the rivalry.Iraq’s new prime ministerAl-Zaidi, a multimillionaire business figure who was considered a compromise candidate of the governing Shia bloc, was reportedly a preferred option to the US over his challenger, controversial former Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.He has also embarked on a high-profile anticorruption campaign, which has seen important figures in Iraq’s political establishment detained on suspicion of corruption.Al-Zaidi’s first foreign trip as prime minister to Washington in mid-July saw him strike a good rapport with US President Donald Trump, who called the Iraqi leader “a fantastic champion” and said the two countries were “going to be doing a lot of deals”.This was backed by an announcement that Iraq had struck dozens of agreements and partnerships with US companies and the rehabilitation of a dormant Iraqi-Syrian oil pipeline, a move welcomed by the US Department of State.