Iran invites Iraq’s al-Zaydi to Tehran amid shifting regional alignments

Iran has extended an invitation to Iraqi Prime Minister-designate Ali al-Zaydi to visit Tehran, according to sources within Iraq’s Shiite Coordination Framework, as Baghdad prepares for closer engagement with Washington and other regional actors, MCD reports.

The invitation comes as al-Zaydi, the Coordination Framework’s nominee for the post of prime minister, prepares for an upcoming visit to Washington, raising expectations over the direction of Iraq’s foreign policy under a potential new government.

Sources within the Coordination Framework, Iraq’s largest political bloc, said the Iranian leadership’s move reflects concerns in Tehran over al-Zaydi’s reported intention to strengthen strategic ties with the United States as well as with the Syrian administration of President Ahmad al-Sharaa.

According to the same sources, Iranian officials are particularly wary of the prospect of an Iraqi–Syrian coordination mechanism operating under US supervision, which they believe could be aimed at limiting Iran’s regional influence route through Iraq into Syria and onward to Lebanon, where it supports Hezbollah.

Iran is also reportedly concerned that al-Zaydi could seek to reduce Iraq’s economic dependence on Tehran in the coming period, further shifting the balance in bilateral relations.

The invitation to travel to Tehran coincides with reports that al-Zaydi has instructed Iraqi security services to restrict visits to Iraq by Esmail Qaani, commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Quds Force, according to individuals familiar with the matter.

In recent days, al-Zaydi is also said to have received an assessment from Iraqi intelligence warning that Qaani’s presence in Iraq could pose risks to efforts aimed at bringing all armed groups under state control, the sources added.

By Aghakazim Guliyev