Iraq’s new PM, Saudi envoy discuss strengthening ties

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Iraqi newly inaugurated Prime Minister Mohammad Shia’ Al-Sudani on Saturday discussed strengthening ties between Baghdad-Riyadh with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s envoy to the country.

The meeting between Al-Sudani and Saudi Ambassador Abdul Aziz Al-Shammari was one of the early meetings that the new premier held with a diplomat after his inauguration on Thursday.

They discussed enhancing the bilateral ties for the sake of both countries’ interests, according to a statement from Al-Sudani’s media office.

The envoy conveyed a letter from King Salman bin Abdul Aziz Al-Saud to Al-Sudani, in which the Arab monarch congratulated the Iraqi official on his new post. 

Baghdad and Riyadh have recently cemented their relations following years of diplomatic breakdown between the countries after the 1991 Kuwait invasion by the former Iraqi regime.

The Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) has recently announced, through five regional countries, including Iraq, Bahrain, Oman, Sudan, and Jordan, it would invest up to $24 billion.

By hosting five rounds of talks between Riyadh and Tehran, Baghdad has played a mediating role since last year between the two long-standing regional foes to diffuse the tension between the two Islamic countries, whose rivalries sometimes resulted in conflicts in Iraq.

Maintaining balanced relations with the regional and international actors has been on the agenda of the new premier, whose government was built by a coalition of Iranian-backed forces as well as Kurdish and Sunni parties following over a year of the country’s parliamentary elections in October 2021.