Iran's Acting Foreign Minister to visit Iraq and Kurdistan Region

Shafaq News/ Iran's Acting Foreign Minister, Ali Bagheri Kani, is set to visit Iraq and the Kurdistan Region, marking his first trip to the neighboring country since assuming his position.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani said during his weekly press conference on Monday, "The date of the trip is currently being finalized in coordination with the Iraqi authorities."

Bagheri Kani is currently in Moscow attending the BRICS Foreign Ministers' Meeting. Before he visited Russia, he had traveled to Turkiye, Syria, and Lebanon as part of a regional tour.

Notably, the late Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi was set to visit Iraq soon for the first time since he assumed his position.

Addressing the upcoming Iranian presidential elections, Kanaani stated, "The diplomatic system has taken initial steps to increase the participation of Iranians abroad, and all embassies have been notified with the necessary instructions to conduct the presidential elections."

Iran on Sunday released a roster of six candidates, mostly conservatives, approved for the June 28 election to replace President Raisi, who was killed in a helicopter crash.

The candidates announced by the interior ministry were selected from 80 registered figures by the Guardian Council, which oversees elections in the Islamic Republic.

Among those approved are the conservative speaker of parliament, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, and the ultraconservative former nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili.

Just one reformist candidate, Massoud Pezeshkian, has been approved.