Iraqi PM visits Saudi Arabia and Iran to discuss regional stability

The Iraqi prime minister met with leaders of rivals Saudi Arabia and Iran on Sunday and discussed regional stability as part of Baghdad’s effort to mediate between the two Middle East heavyweights.

Mustafa al-Kadhemi was visiting Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi in Tehran, having previously met with Saudi Arabia’s de facto leader Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in the Saudi city of Jeddah – to advance an attempt to reconcile enemies who have since No longer maintained diplomatic relations in 2016.

Raisi appeared to welcome the offer of mediation, saying, “We have stressed that regional leaders must negotiate with each other to resolve the region’s problems.”

Iran and Iraq “believe that peace and tranquility in the region depend on the role played by all regional leaders,” he added in a news conference with Kadhemi.

Raisi welcomed an April ceasefire in Yemen — where Tehran and Riyadh back opposing sides in the seven-year civil war.

However, he has criticized all forms of rapprochement with Israel, amid indications that an upcoming visit to Riyadh by US President Joe Biden could herald improved relations between the kingdom and the Jewish state.

“The normalization of relations with the Zionist regime or the presence of foreigners in the region will not solve problems in the region but rather aggravate them,” Raisi said.

Israel established diplomatic ties with the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Morocco in 2020 under the US-brokered Abraham Accords.

Kadhemi said that he and Raisi “agreed on the need to … maintain regional calm and address food insecurity.”

Iran and Saudi Arabia support rival sides in several conflict zones in the region.

Iraq has hosted five rounds of talks between Riyadh and Tehran over the past year, with the last session taking place in April.

Kadhemi said at the time he believed “reconciliation was near” between the rivals, another expression of the region’s shifting political orientations.

During Kademi’s meeting with Prince Mohammed on Sunday, the two addressed “bilateral ties and opportunities for joint cooperation,” the official Saudi press agency reported.

“They exchanged views on a range of issues that would help support and strengthen regional security and stability,” she added.

On Saturday, an Iraqi cabinet source said that Kadhemi’s trip “is related to talks that Riyadh and Tehran recently held in Baghdad.”

The source said these talks are “a roadmap for improving ties and getting back on the right course of strengthening bilateral ties” between Saudi Arabia and Iran.

Sunni Muslim Saudi Arabia and Shia-majority Iran have lost diplomatic ties for six years since Iranian protesters attacked Saudi Arabia’s diplomatic missions in Iran after the kingdom executed Shia cleric Nimr al-Nimr.

Riyadh responded by breaking off relations with Tehran.

Earlier in March, Prince Mohammed said his country and Iran are “neighbors forever” and that it was “better for both of us to sort it out and look for ways we can coexist”.

Riyadh is also concerned about Tehran’s nuclear ambitions, while Iran has always denied wanting a nuclear arsenal.

Upon his arrival in the kingdom, Kadhemi performed the minor pilgrimage known as Umrah in the holy city of Mecca, according to images released by his office.