Saudi Arabia to re-open border with Iraq after nearly 30 years

Saudi Arabia and Iraq are planning on opening the Arar border crossing 27 years after it was closed after the countries cut ties following Saddam Hussein’s invasion of Kuwait.

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan 24) – Saudi Arabia and Iraq are planning on opening the Arar border crossing 27 years after it was closed after the countries cut ties following Saddam Hussein’s invasion of Kuwait, a Saudi newspaper reported on Tuesday.

Saudi and Iraqi officials toured the border crossing site, which had been used for trade between the two nations before the 1990 invasion of Kuwait by then-Iraqi leader Hussein, the Mecca newspaper reported.

Since then, Iraqi religious pilgrims had access to the crossing once a year, during the Hajj season as they traveled to Mecca.

The crossing is located in the Anbar Province, connecting to the town of Arar in Saudi Arabia.

In 2015, Islamic State (IS) militants launched an attack on the border crossing, killing two Saudi guards.

The governor of Iraq’s southwestern Anbar Province said the Iraqi government had deployed troops to protect the desert route leading to Arar and called its opening a “significant move” to boost ties, Reuters reported.

“This is a great start for further future cooperation between Iraq and Saudi Arabia,” said Suhaib al-Rawi on his official Twitter account on Monday.

The announcement followed a decision by the Saudi cabinet on Monday to establish a joint trade commission with Iraq.

Recently, influential Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr made a rare visit to both Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Sadr’s office said his meeting with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman resulted in an agreement for Saudi Arabia to donate $10 million in aid to the Iraqi government and study possible investments in the Shia regions of southern Iraq.

The opening of border crossings for trade was also on a list of items discussed between the two political figures, Sadr’s office noted.

Saudi Arabia recently reopened its embassy in Baghdad following a 25-year break.

Last month, Baghdad and Riyadh announced the formation of councils to bolster strategic ties between the two nations.

However, Saudi has strong ties to Bahrain, which reportedly extended an invitation to Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi to boycott Qatar when the former met with the UAE’s foreign minister in Baghdad last week. 

The Iraqi PM seemingly did not give in to pressure to join the Saudi-led embargo against Doha.

 

Editing by Karzan Sulaivany