Iraqi PM Maliki begins Iran visit

Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki arrived in Tehran today for a two-day visit during which he will meet Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki arrived in Tehran today for a two-day visit during which he will meet Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki.


Ministerial members of Maliki's delegation immediately went into talks with their Iranian commerce, power and transportation counterparts, the official IRNA news agency said.


Maliki's fourth visit to Iran since he took office in 2006 is his first since the December 14 signing of a bilateral security agreement for US troops to remain in Iraq until the end of 2011 in a deal that irked Tehran. The Iraqi premier's trip was initially scheduled for late December.