Iran–Iraq relations

Iran–Iraq relations
Izzedine · CC BY-SA 3.0 · source
Country1	Iran
Country2	Iraq
Mission1	Embassy of Iran, Baghdad
Mission2	Embassy of Iraq, Tehran
Established	1920s (modern)

Iran–Iraq relations describe the diplomatic, political, economic, security, cultural, and historical interactions between Iran and Iraq. The two neighbors share a long Shatt al-Arab frontier, overlapping historical legacies from Mesopotamia, the Safavid dynasty, the Ottoman Empire, and the Qajar dynasty, and recent relations shaped by the Iranian Revolution, the Iran–Iraq War, and post-2003 regional realignments involving United States foreign policy, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey. Bilateral ties have alternated between confrontation, as in the Algiers Agreement (1975), and rapprochement, as in the 2000s with diplomatic exchanges between the governments of Mohammad Khatami, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Saddam Hussein, Nouri al-Maliki, and Hassan Rouhani.

Historical background

From antiquity the territories of Iran and Iraq were connected through empires such as the Achaemenid Empire, the Sassanian Empire, and the Abbasid Caliphate, with cities like Ctesiphon, Susa, and Baghdad serving as imperial centers. The modern frontier emerged as Persian Empire and Ottoman Empire rivalries crystallized in treaties including the Treaty of Zuhab (1639), later adjusted by diplomats like Baron de Tott and administrators under the Qajar dynasty. In the 20th century, the discovery of oil fields near Kirkuk and Basra and concessions involving companies such as the Anglo-Persian Oil Company intensified strategic competition, while the formation of the Kingdom of Iraq and interactions with the Pahlavi dynasty defined interwar relations. The 1975 Algiers Agreement (1975) temporarily resolved disputes over the Shatt al-Arab waterway but tensions escalated after the 1979 Iranian Revolution, leading to the protracted Iran–Iraq War (1980–1988) with major episodes at Khorramshahr, Basra, and the use of chemical weapons condemned by bodies like the United Nations Security Council.

Political and diplomatic relations

Post-2003 the overthrow of Saddam Hussein by United States-led forces and the establishment of successive Iraqi administrations under figures such as Iyad Allawi, Nouri al-Maliki, Haider al-Abadi, and Adil Abdul-Mahdi shifted Baghdad toward increased engagement with Tehran. Diplomatic ties feature embassies in Baghdad and Tehran and frequent high-level meetings involving foreign ministers such as Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and Fuad Hussein, as well as summitry among leaders of Organization of Islamic Cooperation, Gulf Cooperation Council delegations, and Iran-backed political blocs like the Coordination Framework. Bilateral diplomacy also intersects with international actors including United Nations, European Union, Russia, and China through memoranda on border demarcation, prisoner exchanges, and cooperation frameworks influenced by personalities such as Qasem Soleimani and institutions like the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces.

Economic and energy cooperation

Iran and Iraq engage in trade across land crossings such as Shalamcheh and Arar and through ports on the Persian Gulf and Shatt al-Arab, with commodities including natural gas, crude oil, electricity, cement, and foodstuffs. Energy projects and interconnection agreements involve companies and entities like National Iranian Oil Company, Iraq National Oil Company, South Pars, and fields around Kirkuk and Rumaila, and have attracted investment interest from China National Petroleum Corporation and Gazprom-linked ventures. Sanctions regimes tied to United States sanctions on Iran, as well as contracts negotiated under Iraqi ministries of Oil and Electricity and consultancy from World Bank and Asian Development Bank frameworks, have shaped pipelines, power interconnectors, and barter arrangements for fuel supplies to Iraqi provinces such as Karbala and Basra.

Security, military conflicts and border issues

Security ties have alternated between armed confrontation—illustrated by the Iran–Iraq War battles at Khuzestan and Faw Peninsula and the use of ballistic missiles and chemical agents—and cooperation against non-state actors such as Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant and al-Qaeda in Iraq. Border management involves the Iran–Iraq border demarcation, joint security patrols, and disputes over navigational rights on the Shatt al-Arab and incidents near crossings like Khanaqin and Mehran. Iranian involvement in Iraq has included support for militias such as the Badr Organization, Asa'ib Ahl al-Haq, and alliances within the Popular Mobilization Forces, while Iraqi concerns involve Iranian proxy influence, assassination plots, and airstrikes attributed to Israel and United States Central Command against Iranian-linked targets. Multilateral frameworks including Baghdad Pact-era precedents, UNSC resolutions, and confidence-building measures have been invoked to reduce escalation.

Cultural and religious ties

Cultural and religious affinities bind Shiism majorities in Iran and Iraq’s cities of Najaf and Karbala, centers of Shi'a Islam scholarship associated with clerics such as Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani and historical figures like Imam Hussein. Pilgrimage networks, seminaries in Qom and Najaf, and religious festivals including Arba'een and Ashura generate extensive people-to-people contact between clergy, students and pilgrims from provinces such as Kermanshah and Basra. Shared heritage includes archaeological sites like Persepolis influences and Mesopotamian antiquities housed in institutions such as the Iraqi National Museum and Iran’s National Museum of Iran, while cultural cooperation has involved joint restoration projects, academic exchanges between University of Tehran and University of Baghdad, and media co-productions.

Migration, minorities and human rights

Cross-border migration involves communities of Kurdish people, Arab Iraqis, Persians, and smaller groups including Assyrians and Mandeans, with diasporas concentrated in Tehran, Erbil, Basra, and Sulaymaniyah. Minority rights and humanitarian issues raised by organizations such as Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International include displacement from conflict zones, treatment of Baha'is and religious minorities, and legal cases adjudicated in Iraqi courts and Iranian tribunals. Refugee flows during the Iran–Iraq War and the 2003 invasion of Iraq produced waves of asylum seekers, returnees, and internally displaced persons with assistance from United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and International Committee of the Red Cross, while bilateral consular accords address nationality, property claims, and family reunification across provincial administrations and municipal authorities.

Category:Foreign relations of Iran Category:Foreign relations of Iraq