Iraqi prime minister to visit Tehran

Iraq's Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki is due to visit Tehran next month.Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki is due to visit Iran in January in a bid to meet with Iranian officials over expansion of bilateral ties and cooperation. The two sides are also expected to discuss the latest conditions on the ground with regard to the US troops withdrawal from Iraq after Baghdad rejected a US demand for extending its mission in the war-torn country beyond the 2011 deadline. A discussion of the latest developments in the region is also said to be high on the agenda of talks between the Iraqi premier and Iranian officials. In Tehran, Maliki is scheduled to meet with senior officials of the Islamic Republic, including Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and First Vice-President Mohammad Reza Rahimi.