Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Ghalibaf told Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi that cooperation between the two countries against Israel would help preserve unity among Muslim states, at a meeting in Tehran on July 23, IRNA reported.

The meeting closed a visit during which the two governments signed four cooperation agreements covering road freight, a Khosravi-Khanaqin-Baghdad railway, public administration and a Tehran-Baghdad twinning arrangement. Tehran has leaned on Baghdad throughout the war, both as a trade route under US blockade and as host to funeral processions for Khamenei that drew crowds Iranian officials used to demonstrate regional support.

Ghalibaf described Israel as the principal adversary of all Muslim countries and said Iranian-Iraqi cooperation to maintain unity against it would prove effective. He said the two countries could resolve many regional problems together.

He thanked the Iraqi government and public for the funeral processions held for Ali Khamenei in Iraqi cities, and for hosting pilgrims travelling for Arbaeen.

Khamenei was killed alongside several family members in US-Israeli strikes on his compound on February 28, the opening day of the war. His remains were carried through Najaf and Karbala on July 8 before burial at Mashhad the following day. His son Mojtaba was proclaimed supreme leader in early March and has not appeared in public since.

Al-Zaidi said Iraq and Iran were partners rather than only neighbours, describing their fates as linked. He said no thanks were necessary for the funeral arrangements, which Iraq regarded as a duty, and that the loss was that of a major Shia figure rather than an ordinary individual.

Crowds had turned out in high summer heat, al-Zaidi said, in a display he described as conveying a particular image to the world.

Al-Zaidi took office in May at the head of a partially approved cabinet, following a five-month deadlock after Iraq's November 2025 parliamentary election.