BAGHDAD (Ruptly) — Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif met with his Iraqi counterpart Mohammed al-Hakim in Baghdad on Sunday, at the start of a four-day visit to Iraq. The two discussed deepening economic ties as well as the readmittance of Syria to the Arab League.

The visit by Zarif comes less than a week after US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo paid an unscheduled visit to Iraq, during which he urged the Iraqi government to wean itself off Iranian electricity and fossil fuels.

Iraq’s energy supply is heavily dependent on Iranian natural gas imports and Baghdad has been granted an exemption from US sanctions against Iran that is set to expire at the end of March.

Zarif is scheduled to meet with Iraqi Prime Minister Adil Abdul-Mahdi as well as President Barham Salih on Monday, and is expected to meet with Kurdish leaders in Erbil, the capital of Iraqi Kurdistan, on Tuesday.