Iraq PM cancels visit to sanctions-hit Iran

BAGHDAD — Iraqi Prime Minister Haider Al Abadi has cancelled a visit to Iran, his press office said on Sunday, days after Baghdad announced it would comply with US sanctions against Tehran.

Abadi will still go ahead with a planned visit to Turkey on Tuesday but has scrapped the Iran leg of the trip "because of his busy schedule", the office told AFP.

The previous day an Iraqi official who did not want to be named had said Abadi would also visit neighbours Turkey and Iran to discuss economic issues.

According to Iraqi political sources who spoke on condition of anonymity, Iran initially agreed to the visit but changed its mind because it was unhappy about Abadi's remarks.

The premier said last Tuesday that Iraq — which relies on neighbouring Iran as a source of cheap imports — would reluctantly comply with US sanctions against Tehran that took effect the same day.

It came after US President Donald Trump withdrew from a landmark 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers.

"We don't support the sanctions because they are a strategic error, but we will comply with them," said Abadi, whose country is an ally of both Tehran and Washington.

An Iranian foreign ministry spokesman, asked about a possible visit by Abadi, said that he had "so far not received any official news or information whatsoever about this trip", the semi-official ISNA news agency reported.