Iraqi PM due in Iran for official visit

Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki will pay an official visit to neighboring Iran in the coming days to discuss bilateral ties and regional issues with senior Iranian officials, Maliki's office said in a statement.

 "Maliki will pay an official visit to the Islamic Republic of Iran late this week, to discuss the promotion of relations between the two countries, as well as issues in the region," the brief statement said.

 It also said that Maliki will extend his "congratulation to the Iranian President Hassan Rouhani for taking office", after he was inaugurated as the president of Iran on August 4.

 Ties between the Shiite Muslim country of Iran and the Shiite- dominated government of Iraq have picked up considerably since the ouster of Saddam Hussein's Sunni-dominated regime in a U.S.-led invasion in 2003.

 Iraq and Iran fought a bloody eight-year war in the 1980s, resulting in the loss of one million lives.