Iran's outgoing president, Mahmud Ahmadinejad, has begun a two-day official visit to neighboring Iraq.
Ahmadinejad was expected to meet with Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and other top Iraqi officials.
The prime minister's office said that Ahmadinejad also would visit the shrines of Imam Hussein in Karbala and Imam Ali in Najaf, considered the holiest sites in Shi'ite Islam.
The trip is Ahmadinejad's second official visit to Iraq.
His visit there in 2008 was the first by an Iranian president since Iran's 1979 Islamic Revolution.
The two fought a bitter eight-year war in 1980-88.
Ahmadinejad has served two terms in office. President-elect Hassan Rohani is to be inaugurated on August 3.
Ahmadinejad was expected to meet with Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and other top Iraqi officials.
The prime minister's office said that Ahmadinejad also would visit the shrines of Imam Hussein in Karbala and Imam Ali in Najaf, considered the holiest sites in Shi'ite Islam.
The trip is Ahmadinejad's second official visit to Iraq.
His visit there in 2008 was the first by an Iranian president since Iran's 1979 Islamic Revolution.
The two fought a bitter eight-year war in 1980-88.
Ahmadinejad has served two terms in office. President-elect Hassan Rohani is to be inaugurated on August 3.
