The meeting with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani was seen as a signal that ties between Iraq and Iran won’t be undermined by U.S. efforts.
By Mustafa Salim and Tamer El-Ghobashy Tamer El-Ghobashy Baghdad bureau chief focusing on Iraq's politics, security and the fight against the Islamic State Email Bio Follow March 13 at 6:01 PM BAGHDAD — Iranian President Hassan Rouhani capped his state visit to Iraq on Wednesday by meeting the country’s most respected religious authority, Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani— a sit-down that has eluded previous Iranian presidents and American leaders alike.
Officials from both countries said that details of the agreements would be released at a later date but that the message was clear: Iraq will not be a party to renewed U.S. sanctions on Iran. From left, Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif in Najaf on Wednesday. For Iraq, Rouhani’s three-day visit represented a break from Tehran’s usual methods of exerting influence, which include activities inside Iraq by Iranian-allied militias and leading figures from Iran’s powerful Revolutionary Guard Corps. Sistani referenced these activities during his meeting with the Iranian president.
The U.S. government and many Iraqis view the militias as Iranian proxies outside the control of Iraq’s central authorities. But Sistani, a revered figure with a large following in Iran, has refused to meet with the powerful commander of the Revolutionary Guard’s elite Quds Force, Qasem Soleimani. Similarly, Sistani rejected a meeting with former president and hard-line politician Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
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