ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi made an undisclosed visit to Tehran on Friday, meeting with Iran’s chief negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, in a bid to mediate between Iran and the US amid the ongoing conflict, a source told Iranian semi-official media.

“Zaidi and his accompanying delegation met and held discussions with Ghalibaf,” Fars News, an outlet affiliated with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), reported on Monday, citing an informed source.

 “The discussions focused exclusively on Iraq’s efforts to end the conflict between Iran and the United States,” it said, stressing that the officials “did not address any other matters.”

The statement quoted Ghalibaf as saying that Washington “must respect Iran’s rights” under the outstanding proposal for negotiations to make progress.

On Thursday, a day before his Tehran trip, Zaidi held phone call with US President Donald Trump, in which they discussed regional developments, security matters, and the outlook for the period ahead, according to the official statement from the Iraqi premier’s office.

The premier reiterated Baghdad's rejection of its territory being used as “a launchpad for attacks against neighboring countries,” during the phone call.

Also on Thursday, Zaidi received US envoy to Baghdad Tom Barrack, discussing an array of different topics, mainly the regional situation amid the ongoing conflicts, and stressing the need to ease tensions and contain the crises through diplomacy.

The Iraqi prime minister has formed a good relationship with Trump since assuming the premiership, with the US leader having endorsed him repeatedly and saying that the pair have "tremendous chemistry" when receiving Zaidi at the Oval Office in July.

For his part, Zaidi has ventured that his past as a businessman has allowed him and the former US real estate tycoon to forge a rapport, with the premier earlier on Thursday reiterating his government's “open door policy” regarding US investment in Iraq.

The continuation of the US-Iran conflict amid a failure to reach a deal that would satisfy both parties has left Zaidi in a familiar position for Iraqi prime ministers - seeking to balance relations with Washington and Tehran.

On Sunday, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said that efforts by mediators to broker talks between Tehran and Washington had stalled following the Republican Party’s heavy losses in the US midterm elections, adding that Iran would wait to see how the Trump administration responds to the results.