Shafaq News / Iraq’ Foreign Minister Fouad Hussein arrived in the Iranian capital, Tehran, on Wednesday.

The ministry's spokesman, Ahmed Al-Sahaf said in a statement today that the Iraqi Foreign Minister is planned to meet his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif and Iranian officials to discuss regional security, economic recovery and common interests between the two countries.

In September 2020, Hussein made his first visit to Tehran when he met with Iranian National Security Adviser Ali Shamkhani, Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, and his Iranian counterpart, Muhammad Javad Zarif.

Zarif also visited Baghdad in mid-July 2020, when he met with Hussein and Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi. It was Zarif’s first visit to Iraq since a U.S. airstrike in January killed a top Iranian general, Qassem Soleimani, outside Baghdad’s international airport.

After Zarif’s trip, the Iraqi premier visited Iran in July.

Iran, which shares a long border with Iraq, is one of Iraq’s biggest trading partners. Both countries’ economies are in crisis. Iran continues to suffer from U.S. sanctions and Iraq’s economy has been battered by years of wars, sanctions and ISIS.

In 2019, Iran’s exports to Iraq amounted to nearly $9 billion, the official IRNA news agency reported.