Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has congratulated new Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi on securing parliamentary confidence after he was sworn in on Thursday, Al Jazeera reports.

“I hope that in this new phase, and drawing on the deep ties between our two peoples, we will witness a new chapter of strategic cooperation,” he says, adding that Iran would “remain by Iraq’s side on the path of development and the consolidation of security”.