Saudis urged not to turn Iraq into ‘cold war’ front with Iran

DUBAI: Saudi Arabia should avoid turning Iraq into a ‘battleground in a cold war’ with its regional rival Tehran, the International Crisis Group said yesterday.

Iraq, located between Sunniruled Saudi Arabia and predominantly Shiite Iran, could undergo political change following an upset election victory by cleric Moqtada Sadr.

The key populist Shiite leader, seen as resisting Iran’s influence in Iraq, made a surprise visit to Riyadh last year.

But a group of Iran allies won second place in last week’s polls, raising fears of a new proxy confrontation between Tehran and Riyadh which are already at odds in the Yemen and Syria conflicts.

“In projecting its influence in Iraq, Riyadh should resist the temptation to transform the country into the latest battleground in a cold war with Tehran,” the ICG said in a report.

While Saudi Arabia supported Iraq in its war with Iran during the 1980s, Riyadh was on the frontline against Saddam Hussein’s 1990 invasion of Kuwait.

Relations have warmed between Saudi Arabia and post-Saddam Iraq since last year after a series of visits by officials from both countries, the reopening of a border post for the first time in 27 years, and the resumption of commercial flights.

In March, Saudi King Salman promised Iraq to finance the construction a football stadium with a capacity of up to 100,000 people.