First time in Baghdad: Iran's president to visit Iraq
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Iranian President Hassan Rouhani is making his first official visit to Iraq this week as he faces mounting pressure from hard-liners at home in the wake of the unravelling of the nuclear deal under the Trump administration.
Rouhani's trip — billed as "historic and noble" by his foreign minister — is meant to solidify ties between Shiite power Iran and Iraq's Shiite led-government.
It's also Iran's response to President Donald Trump's snap December trip to Iraq during which he said U.S. forces are in Iraq to watch Iran.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Iran's top diplomat, Mohammad Javad Zarif, was in Baghdad on Sunday to prepare for Rouhani's three-day visit, which starts Monday.
Zarif told the official IRNA news agency that Rouhani's visit will provide an opportunity for reaching "serious understandings" between the two neighbors.