BAGHDAD, May 28 (Xinhua) -- Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi Tuesday said that he will visit the United States and Iran soon to discuss the situation in the Middle East, including the Iranian-U.S. crisis.
"Our visit to Washington and Tehran will be in the coming days, in order to discuss the situation of the region," Abdul Mahdi told a press conference after the weekly cabinet meeting.
"We have already moved toward clam to spare Iraq the consequences of sanctions on Iran," Abdul Mahdi said.
Abdul Mahdi's comments came amid rising tensions between Washington and Tehran, which came after U.S. President Donald Trump decided not to re-issue the sanctions waivers for major importers to continue buying Iran's oil when they expired in early May.
On May 15, the U.S. State Department ordered the non-emergency U.S. employees working in both the embassy in Baghdad and the consulate in Erbil to leave Iraq, a U.S. embassy statement said.
Last week, Abdul Mahdi said Iraq would send delegations to the United States and Iran to ease the tension in the Middle East.
On Saturday, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif arrived in Baghdad on an official visit and discussed with Iraqi leaders bilateral ties and regional situation.
The United States has also increased its military buildup in the region recently by deploying an aircraft carrier, bombers and anti-missile systems, citing a threat of Iranian attack.
