Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani has arrived in Baghdad in his first official visit to the nation that Tehran once fought a bloody war against and later backed in the battle with the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant group.

Rouhani was welcomed by Iraqi Foreign Minister Mohammed Ali Al-Hakim on Monday.

He will visit a Shia shrine in the Iraqi capital and then meet President Barham Salih and Prime Minister Abdel Abdul Mehdi, as well as visit other politicians and Shia leaders.

Since Rouhani’s election in 2013, Iraq has relied on Iranian paramilitary support to fight ISIL, also known as ISIS, following the group’s capture of the Iraqi city of Mosul and other territory in both Iraq and Syria.

Now, with the armed fighters facing a final territorial defeat in the Syrian village of Baghouz, Iran is looking for Iraq’s continued support as it faces a maximalist pressure campaign by President Donald Trump after his decision to withdraw the US from Tehran’s nuclear deal with world powers. 

Rouhani’s visit is a strong message to the US and its regional allies that Iran still dominates Baghdad, a key arena for rising tension between Washington and Tehran.

“We are very much interested to expand our ties with Iraq, particularly our transport cooperation,” Rouhani said at Tehran’s Mehrabad airport before departing for Iraq.

“We have important projects that will be discussed during this visit.”

During the three-day visit, a series of agreements will be signed in fields such as energy, transport, agriculture, industry and health, Iran’s state news agency IRNA reported.

“Iraq is another channel for Iran to bypass America’s unjust sanctions imposed on Iran. This trip will provide opportunities for Iran’s economy,” a senior Iranian official, who is accompanying Rouhani, told Reuters news agency.

Increasing trade ties

The parlous state of Iran’s economy since US President Donald Trump’s decision last May to pull out of a 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and six major powers has pushed the country’s leaders to try to expand trade ties with its neighbours.

The agreement lifted sanctions that had been imposed by the US, European Union and United Nations in return for Iran’s curbs on its sensitive nuclear programme.

The Trump administration, which said the accord was too generous and failed to rein in Iran’s ballistic missile programme and its involvement in regional conflicts such as Syria and Yemen, reimposed sanctions on Tehran.

Other signatories to the deal have been trying to salvage the pact after the US exit, but US sanctions have largely scared off European companies from doing business with Iran.

The Europeans have promised to help firms do business with Iran as long as it abides by the deal. Iran has itself threatened to pull out of the 2015 deal unless EU powers demonstrably protect its economic benefits.

Speaking in a joint press conference with Iraq’s top diplomat Mohammed Ali al-Hakim on Sunday, Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said they had held “very good discussions”.

The Iranian foreign minister thanked Iraq for having “refused the injust and illegal sanctions imposed on the Iranian people” in reference to the US measures.

After Turkey, Iran is the top supplier of imported goods to Iraq, and Rouhani said his discussions with Hakim covered sectors including trade and health.

Iran and Iraq plan to raise annual bilateral trade to $20bn from the current level of $12bn, according to Rouhani. The bulk of the trade balance is tilted towards Iran with gas and energy exports.

“Rouhani is coming to discuss … trade between the countries [and] the issue of easing trade exchanges in Iraqi local currency and finding other ways, like Germany and Britain, to adopt an alternative European currency to circumvent US sanctions,” Iraqi political analyst Hisham al-Hashemi told AFP news agency.

As hundreds of protesters took the streets of Sudan‘s city of Omdurman, activists across the East African country called for sustained anti-government action to challenge emergency laws launched by President Omar al-Bashir last month.  

The one-year state of emergencyannounced on February 22 lends state authorities extended powers to detain protesters and crack down on public gatherings, but activists protesting against Bashir for nearly three months say they are more determined than ever to take to the streets. 

“Bashir’s announcement has only escalated the situation and made us more insistent on protesting to make our voices heard,” said Ahmed, an activist from Khartoum, whose real name was changed for security reasons.

“We heard Bashir’s announcement of the new laws while we waited in the streets so that we could react immediately. Sudan’s streets have been teaming with demonstrators since,” added Ahmed, who has taken part in the protests since they began on December 19. 

Bashir’s announcement has only escalated the situation and made us more insistent on protesting to make our voices heard.

Ahmed, Sudanese activist

Protests, sparked by a government decision to increase the price of bread, quickly developed into nationwide anti-government demonstrations calling for Bashir to step down.  

Bashir has since acknowledged the protests and taken several steps, which included quitting his position as as chairman of the ruling party, in attempt to appease the demonstrators. But activists say their demands have still not been met. 

Extensive new powers 

The presidential decree announced last month bans protests, public gatherings and political activities. It also gives the police and security forces more power to monitor individuals and to carry out inspections. 

Under the new emergency laws, security forces are allowed to detain suspected individuals and to seize private property if they believe it is being used to plan political activities.

Sudan’s parliament is expected to vote on whether to continue the state of emergency or end it. 

Analysts and human rights activists say the new laws are unprecedented in Sudan and can be used to stifle any resistance against the government.

“The state of emergency only makes the status quo much worse than it already was. It augments the already-extensive powers of the state security apparatus, namely the National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS), in search, seizure and arrest,” said Muhammad Osman, an independent Sudanese analyst.

“They [security services] can now arbitrarily detain people for any period of time, search any building they want, confiscate any assets. 

“The state of emergency will also allow the government to try people for anti-government comments on social media and will setup emergency courts to hand down summary sentences of prison against protesters,” explained Osman.   

Special emergency courts, established to prosecute people arrested for participating in demonstrations, have already seen more than 800 protesters placed on trial since Bashir’s imposed state of emergency. 

More defiant protesters

Ahmed, who was among a group of 69 protesters put on trial after being detained during a demonstration in Burri, east of Khartoum, on February 28, says these new measures have not intimidated him and his activist friends. 

“I was arrested and detained for several days before being put on trial at a special court, and then released along with 66 others last Wednesday,” Ahmed told Al Jazeera. 

Our immediate reaction to Bashir’s announcement was to call on the Sudanese people to protest in the streets, and that’s exactly what happened.

Mohamed Asbat, journalist and SPA spokesperson

“The violence we experienced at the hands of the security forces was brutal and has definitely increased since the presidential decree. But our arrest has only made us more defiant to continue.” 

According to Mohamed Asbat, a Sudanese journalist and spokesman for the Sudanese Professional’s Association (SPA), an umbrella coalition that has led calls for nationwide protests and strikes, the new emergency powers will not stifle the protest movement.  

“Our immediate reaction to Bashir’s announcement was to call on the Sudanese people to protest in the streets, and that’s exactly what happened,” Asbat told Al Jazeera. 

“The streets became filled with protesters within a few minutes of the announcement and the number and intensity of the demonstrations has only been on the rise since,” he added. 

Following Bashir’s announcement of the new laws, protesters staged overnight anti-government protests in hospitals and universities to challenge the new powers. 

Several protests and a nationwide strike, which saw the participation of a large number of doctors, journalists, lawyers and pharmacists on March 5, have since been held across Sudan.  

“While the state of emergency was aimed at weakening the protest movement, it has only worked in our favour, pushing us harder,” said Asbat. 

Revised strategies?

Despite Bashir ordering on Friday the release of women protesters detained in the nationwide demonstrations, nine women were sentenced a day later to 20 lashes and one month in prison for rioting. 

The move came after an emergency court sent on February 28 eight people to prison for protesting, sentencing four to five-year terms and the rest to three-year sentences. 

Following Saturday’s court decision against the female protesters, the SPA released a statement on Sunday to condemn the move. 

“The Sudanese people were shocked and deeply disappointed by the emergency courts’ decision to severely punish nine female protesters in Khartoum.

“We condemn the involvement of the judiciary with the emergency courts’ attempt to silence the Sudanese people and prevent us from practising our right to hold peaceful protests.”

Such prosecutions have led analysts to believe that although the immediate reaction of the protesters to the emergency laws has been to challenge them, the new powers may eventually weaken the movement.  

“If the government prosecutes and sentences a large number of activists to lengthy periods in prison, the strength of the protests is likely to be affected,” Osman told Al Jazeera.

“That in turn will force the leadership organising the protests, the Sudanese Professionals Association, to explore other and less costly options of resistance.”

Image: Lionsgate / Philippe Bosse