Report: Iraqi PM Visits Tehran With Resistance Leaders
TEHRA – Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi met with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and Parliament Speaker Muhammad Bagher Ghalibaf during a recent visit to Tehran, Iranian media reported on Monday.
The reports, carried by Tasnim News Agency, said Zaidi was accompanied by Faleh al-Fayyad, head of the Popular Mobilization Forces, and Hadi al-Amiri, commander of the Badr Organization.
The visit followed talks with U.S. President Donald Trump and Tom Barrack, Washington’s envoy for West Asia, according to the reports, which added that Zaidi returned without securing any outcome acceptable to the Americans.
A source cited by Fars News said the discussions focused exclusively on Iraq’s efforts to end the war between Iran and the United States, with Ghalibaf, who heads Iran’s negotiating team, briefing the Iraqi delegation on Tehran’s two-day plan and stressing that Washington must respect Iran’s rights for negotiations to advance .
Iraq’s ambassador to Iran, Yasser Abdul-Zahra al-Hajjaj, confirmed the visit on Monday, describing it as part of diplomatic efforts to reduce tension and prevent escalation, and saying it was conducted discreetly due to its “special nature.”
A senior Iranian security official on Monday dismissed as “fabrication” reports by some media outlets that Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council Mohsen Rezaei had met with U.S. Vice President JD Vance in Doha.
The official said Iran’s policy and plans regarding negotiations remain unchanged, and that no talks with the American side would be scheduled until Washington takes practical steps within the framework of seven specified conditions.
The denial came as Qatar’s Foreign Ministry said claims about the failure of U.S.-Iran negotiations were “completely baseless,” and that cooperation between Iran and Persian Gulf countries created “unprecedented opportunities.”
The diplomatic maneuvering comes as Zaidi’s government faces mounting domestic pressure over the closure of the Al-Shayb border crossing with Iran, which has been shut since 20 October. The closure has cut off a vital supply line for goods entering Maysan province, driving up prices and triggering repeated protests by truck drivers, border workers and residents.
An Iraqi official told Chinese state media that the closure came under U.S. pressure, with Washington asking Baghdad to impose a land blockade on Iran.
A member of the Iraqi parliament, Saud al-Saadi, said the closure was “not a purely domestic decision” but was taken under “direct pressure and threats” from the United States.
Protesters have questioned why crossings in the Kurdistan Region remain open while the southern Al-Shayb crossing is shut, describing the policy as discriminatory.
Tribal leaders warned the closure had “cut off the livelihoods of thousands of people,” and Maysan Provincial Council chief Mustafa Daeer Muhammedawi threatened civil disobedience unless the crossing reopened. Protests continued in Maysan in the days before Zaidi’s Tehran trip, with demonstrators accusing the government of submitting to American pressure and demanding the crossing’s immediate reopening.