First senior Saudi minister makes visit to Baghdad after 2003

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan24) – Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir on Saturday made a rare visit to Iraq, meeting with Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi in Baghdad.

The visit was marked the first time a senior Saudi Minister came to Iraq since the removal of Saddam Hussein in 2003, the spokesperson of the Iraqi Foreign Ministry told Reuters.

Saudi Arabia closed its embassy in Baghdad in 1990 following Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait.

In December 2015, 25 years later, Saudi Arabia reopened the embassy in the country.

However, a year after, Iraq asked the Saudi government to replace its ambassador to Baghdad.

The Ambassador previously made comments on the substantial Iranian involvement inside Iraq as well as alleged persecution of Sunni Muslim’s in the country.

The comments angered Shia politicians who hold most of the posts in the Iraqi parliament.

Moreover, Baghdad accused the Saudi Ambassador of interfering in the internal affairs of the country.

Saudi Arabia has repeatedly accused the federal government of Iraq of being too close to Tehran which is the Saudi’s main rival in the Middle East.

The Saudi government blames Iraq for encouraging sectarian discrimination against the Sunni people in the country which make up 20 percent of the population.

However, Baghdad officials deny the accusations.

Iran also accused the Saudi consul in Erbil, the capital of the Kurdistan Region, of arming and backing Iranian Kurdish rebel groups against Tehran.

Saudi Arabia, though, denies the claims.

The hostilities between Sunni and Shia regional powers have deepened in the past years as sectarian conflicts gained popularity in countries like Syria, Yemen, and Iraq.

Editing by Karzan Sulaivany