Turkey’s top diplomat is set to pay an official visit to Iraq on Thursday amid heightened tension between the US and Iran.
“DIPLOMATIC EFFORTS TO ALLEVIATE THE ESCALATED TENSION”
Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu is due in Iraq on Jan. 9 “within the context of our intensified diplomatic efforts to alleviate the escalated tension in the aftermath of recent developments in the region,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Wednesday. “Recent developments in the region, as well as bilateral issues, are expected to be discussed during the visit,” it added.
Early Friday, Qasem Soleimani, the head of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps’ (IRGC) elite Quds Force, was killed in a U.S. drone strike in Baghdad.
Early Wednesday, Iran’s IRGC launched more than a dozen ballistic missiles against U.S. military and coalition forces in Iraq.