Tehran, IRNA – Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has stressed the need to cement diplomatic relations with the neighboring country of Iraq.

Pezeshkian, who is on his first state visit abroad, told the Iraqi media Al Ekhbariya that Tehran and Baghdad should enhance security cooperation in line with further bolstering ties.

Security cooperation can help remove possible obstacles, he further noted.

Commenting on the Arbaeen walk, he said that both Iraq and the Islamic Republic provided security for the pilgrims.

Elsewhere in his remarks, he touched on the atrocities being commited by the Israeli regime against the defenseless nation of Palestine.

Iranian president called for putting an end to the ongoing genocidal war in the Gaza Strip.

Heading a high-ranking eco-political delegation, Pezeshkian arrived in the Iraqi capital to start his first foreign visit after taking office in August.

Pezeshkian met with his Iraqi counterpart Abdul Latif Rashid in Baghdad on Wednesday.

Iran's president held a joint press conference with Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia' Al-Sudani, emphasizing the urgent need for implementing security cooperation agreements between the Islamic Republic and Iraq.

After his formal meetings, Pezeshkian plans to visit the holy shrines of Imam Ali (AS), the first Imam of Shia Muslims, in Najaf; and Imam Hussain (AS), the third Imam, in Karbala.

Also, the president will tour some of the Iranian-run projects in Basra, southern Iraq; then he will leave for the Iraqi Kurdistan region in the north of the neighboring state.

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