FILE - In this Nov. 24, 2015, file photo, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, right, listens to his Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif prior to a meeting in Tehran, Iran. Rouhani is planning to make his first official visit to Iraq Monday, March 11, 2019, as he faces mounting pressure from hard-liners at home in the wake of the unravelling of the nuclear deal under the Trump administration. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi, File)
BAGHDAD – Iraqi television says Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has arrived in Iraq, making his first official visit to the neighboring nation that Tehran once fought a bloody war against and later backed in the battle with the Islamic State group.
Rouhani landed in Baghdad on Monday. He is scheduled to meet with both President Barham Salih and Prime Minister Abdel Abdul Mehdi, as well as visit other politicians and Shiite leaders.
Rouhani's visit comes as Iran faces a maximalist pressure campaign from President Donald Trump after he pulled America out of Tehran's nuclear deal with world powers.
So far, Iraq has said it will stand by Iran.
The visit underlines how much has changed since the 1980s, when Saddam Hussein invaded Iran, sparking an eight-year war that killed 1 million people.
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