Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi is to travel to Tehran late this week to propose that Baghdad host direct or indirect talks between the United States and Iran, Al-Arab reported on July 21, citing informed sources.

The initiative, said to have been raised during al-Zaidi's recent meeting with US President Donald Trump, is aimed at preventing the latest military confrontation between Washington and Tehran from widening into a broader regional war, at a time when direct contact between the two capitals has become increasingly difficult.

Baghdad believes its close ties with both governments place it in a unique position to facilitate communication, according to the report.

The diplomatic effort follows al-Zaidi's visit to Washington, where the two sides discussed expanding trade, investment opportunities, strengthening Iraq's energy sector and opening new markets for Iraqi crude exports, pointing to Baghdad's interest in deepening economic relations with the United States alongside its strategic ties with Iran.

Al-Zaidi is to continue from Tehran to Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Syria, part of a wider Iraqi push to strengthen its regional diplomatic role amid rising instability in West Asia.

Baghdad hosted secret talks between Iran and Saudi Arabia from 2021, though mediation between Washington and Tehran is more complex, with disputes extending beyond Iran's nuclear programme to sanctions, military deployments, maritime security in the Gulf and Iran's network of regional allies.

Iraqi officials believe that reopening even limited channels between Tehran and Washington would strengthen Iraq's standing as a constructive regional player, turning the country from an arena of great-power rivalry into what they describe as a crossroads of diplomacy, despite criticism inside Iran of al-Zaidi's recent trip to Washington.