Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf delivers a speech in front of statues of Iranian military commander Qassem Soleimani and Iraqi paramilitary commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis at the site where they were killed in a U.S. drone strike, near Baghdad International Airport, Iraq, on Wednesday.

Ahmed Saad/Reuters

Iran’s parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf praised the “unbreakable” bond between the people of Iraq and Iran ahead of his departure to Baghdad on Wednesday, according to Iranian state media.

“Our neighborly relationship is based on brotherhood, even in the most difficult times, resistance against foreign interference, and a belief in a shared destiny for both countries,” Press TV reported.

Ghalibaf said the visit would strengthen the “internal and shared security of both countries.”

The visit comes at a tense moment for the region with the framework diplomatic agreement between the US and Iran, which was meant to end the war, expiring Monday and no resolution to the conflict in sight.

Iraq has frequently been caught in the crossfire between the US and Iran, including in Trump’s first term when he ordered the assassination of Qasem Soleimani at the Baghdad International Airport.

The US military and Saudi Arabian forces said they conducted joint strikes against Iran-backed militias in Iraq in late July, in response to attacks on US forces and Saudi oil facilities.

Some powerful militias within Iraq’s security forces have close ties to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and form part of Tehran’s “Axis of Resistance” in the region, along with groups such as Hezbollah in Lebanon, Hamas in Gaza and the Houthis in Yemen. These Tehran-backed groups have frequently launched attacks against the US and its allies in the Middle East.