Saudi pledges $1 billion loan for Iraq, new Baghdad sport city complex, reopens diplomatic missions

Iraq will receive a $1 billion loan for reconstruction efforts throughout the country as well as a sports city complex in Baghdad as a gift from Saudi Arabian King Salman bin Abdulaziz, a senior Saudi official said.

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Iraq will receive a $1 billion loan for reconstruction efforts throughout the country as well as a sports city complex in Baghdad as a gift from Saudi Arabian King Salman bin Abdulaziz, a senior Saudi official said.

Saudi Arabian Trade and Investment Minister, Majid al-Qassabi, led a high-level delegation to Baghdad on Wednesday, where he made the announcement in yet another visit to Iraq to deepen burgeoning ties. 

Qassabi announced “the construction of a sport city complex for the people of Iraq as a gift from” Abdulaziz as well as “providing a loan from the Kingdom to Iraq amounting to one billion dollars to contribute to its development so the Kingdom becomes a key partner in the rebirth of Iraq,” read a report from the official SPA news agency. 

Diplomatic relations between the two countries broke down in 1990 following Baghdad's brazen invasion of Kuwait. The resumption of formal ties between Saudi Arabia and Iraq dates back to 2015, when Riyadh reopened its embassy in Baghdad, which had been shuttered for 25 years.

In June 2017, Iraq and Saudi Arabia agreed to set up a coordination council in efforts to further cement ties as the latter seeks to counteract Iranian influence in the former.

Baghdad has long claimed it seeks good relations with all countries, but Tehran’s sway over internal politics has been most palpable with its direct support for senior politicians and militias.

“The kingdom will open its consulate in Baghdad on Thursday to begin issuing visas to Iraqis,” Qassabi said, according to the official SPA news agency.

The “consulate” would be an office within the embassy where travel documents would be issued. Previously, Iraqis had to apply for such documentation through the Saudi embassy in Jordan. 

Minister Qassabi added that 13 agreements are ready to be signed and that work at the Arar border crossing, which links Iraq to Saudi Arabia and has also been closed since 1990, will be completed “after six months from now.”

To further establish itself throughout the country, according to Iraqi News Agency, Riyadh will reopen three more consulates.

Editing by Nadia Riva and John J. Catherine