Tehran  - Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki will visit Tehran at the weekend to discuss further expansion of bilateral ties, Iraqi President Jalal Talabani told state television Friday.

The Iraqi premier is scheduled to arrive in Tehran on Sunday morning and hold talks with President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as well as Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

"I hope he will go there with full hands and return with fuller hands," Talabani told the Iranian TV in Baghdad.

Talabani praised Iran's assistance to Iraq since the fall of Saddam Hussein and said he was sure about Iran's goodwill to help Iraq.

Al-Maliki sent a delegation to Tehran last month for talks with Iranian officials on concerns that Iran was arming and funding militias in Iraq. An Iraqi spokesman said after the visit that there was no evidence for the charges.

The Iraqi premier is also expected to reiterate the Iraqi government's wish to resume Iran-US talks over Iraq's security which both sides have halted.

Tehran has indicated that there would be no further talks with the current US administration.

There are however hopes within the Iranian government that the possible presidency of Democratic candidate Barack Obama would change the status of Iran-US relations after almost three decades of political estrangement. (dpa)