Iraqi FM to Visit Iran after Parliamentary Elections

(FNA)- Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari is scheduled to visit Iran after the April 30 presidential elections in Iraq, Baghdad's Envoy to Tehran Mohammad Majid al-Sheikh announced on Tuesday.

"Zebari will visit Iran after the parliamentary elections in Iraq to continue negotiations on issues related to Shatt al-Arab (Arvandroud)," Sheikh told FNA.

Noting that discussions over the completion and reorganization of border posts between the two countries have been finalized and talks have been held on redrawing of the thalweg line (the line of lowest elevation within a valley or watercourse), he said, "It was decided that an agreement be inked by the two countries for redrawing the thalweg line and facilitating sailing in the waterway during the Iraqi foreign minister's visit to Iran."

Sheikh said that the agreement will possibly be signed in Khorramshahr or Basra cities.

He also expressed the hope that the remaining issues related to the Algiers Accord between Iran and Iraq would be obviated soon.

The 1975 Algiers Agreement (also known as the Algiers Accord, sometimes as the Algiers Declaration) was an agreement between Iran and Iraq to settle their border disputes (such as the Shatt al-Arab, known as Arvand River in Iran), and served as basis for the bilateral treaties signed on June 13 and December 26, 1975.

Arvandroud, with a length of 84 km, flows through the cities of Khorramshahr and Abadan in Khuzestan province. This river has been formed by the meeting of the two rivers of Tigris and Euphrates. They meet at a place called Qarneh, 110 km Southwest of Abadan and flow alongside the city of Basra in Iraq.

After following a long course and flowing through Khorramshahr and Abadan, it ultimately reaches the Persian Gulf.