Iraq's parliament speaker said Saturday that Baghdad is ready to mediate between the United States and Iran if it is asked to do so.
Mohamad Halbousi's comments, carried by state TV, came shortly after Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif arrived in Baghdad beginning a two-day visit.
Tension between the US and Iran have escalated ever since the Trump administration withdrew last year from the 2015 nuclear deal between the Islamic Republic and world powers and reinstated American sanctions that have badly damaged the Iranian economy.
President Donald Trump has argued that the nuclear deal failed to sufficiently curb Iran's ability to develop nuclear weapons or halt its support for militias throughout the Middle East that the US argues destabilize the region.
Iraqi TV aired footage of Zarif upon arrival while being received by the Foreign Ministry's undersecretary Nizar Khairallah.
"We are ready to mediate to solve the crisis between Washington and Tehran if we are asked for that," al-Halbousi, whose country has close ties with both Washington and Tehran, said. He added that there has been "no official request for such mediation."
A statement released by Abdul-Mahdi's office said the two officials discussed "ways of making the two countries and the region avoid the harms of sanctions and the dangers of war."
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