Saudi foreign minister in Iraq to renew relations
Jubeir visits Abadi and says Riyadh wants to rebuild ties
ABU DHABI // Saudi foreign minister Adel Al Jubeir yesterday visited Baghdad for talks with the prime minister and Iraq’s top diplomat.
It was the first trip to Baghdad by a Saudi foreign minister since 1990.
“It’s the hope of the kingdom of Saudi Arabia to build excellent relations between the two brotherly countries,” Mr Al Jubeir said after meeting Iraqi prime minister Haider Al Abadi.
“There are also many shared interests, from fighting extremism and terrorism to opportunities for investment and trade, between the two countries.”
Mr Al Abadi’s office said the two men “discussed cooperation in various fields, including the fight against the Daesh gangs”.
Mr Al Jubeir also met the Iraqi foreign minister, Ibrahim Al Jaafari. In his talks, Mr Al Jubeir said Riyadh planned to appoint a new ambassador to Baghdad.
After 25 years without a permanent envoy in Iraq, Saudi Arabia sent ambassador Thamer Al Sabhan at the start of last year.
But Mr Al Sabhan was forced to leave his post by Iraq less than a year later, after he said Iranbacked Shiite militias in the country were exacerbating tensions with Sunni Arabs.
Mr Al Jubeir stated Riyadh’s willingness to help bridge the sectarian divide in Iraq. “The kingdom stands at an equal distance from all communities making up Iraq and supports the unity and stability of Iraq,” he said. Relations between Baghdad and Riyadh were tense and limited after 2003, as Iran became an increasingly powerful military and political player in Iraq, where Shiite Arabs are predominant.
But Shiite political factions do not all support Iran’s influence.
Riyadh has mostly chosen to disengage from Iraq and has not had real influence among the country’s Sunni communities or political and insurgent groups.
Iraqi politicians and officials, however, have routinely accused the kingdom of supporting extremists such as ISIL.
Mr Al Abadi has supported attempts to improve relations with Riyadh since taking office in September 2014, months after ISIL overran large areas of Iraq and as Shiite militias backed by Iran grew in size and power.
This came as the Popular Mobilisation Units, a state-sponsored umbrella group of mostly Shiite militias, was formed and became key to pushing back ISIL.
The motives behind the moves to thaw bilateral relations are not clear.
Neither is whether Mr Al Abadi or his allies hold serious hopes that Arabian Gulf states can play a positive role in Iraq and counter Iranian influence.
It would appear that the US is brokering the renewal of relations between Riyadh and Baghdad.
Former Iraqi finance minister Hoshyar Zebari, who was sacked last year, said on social media: “Today’s visit by the Saudi foreign minister is an excellent move to normalise Iraq-Saudi relations. Thanks to our American friends.”
Mr Al Jubeir’s trip came a week after Iranian president Hassan Rouhani made his first visit to Kuwait since taking office, in what he said was an attempt to initiate a dialogue with the GCC and reduce tensions.
That visit took place amid heightened fears of a military confrontation in the region, with the new US administration saying it would seek a policy of containing Iran, rather than trying to engage it as former president Barack Obama had sought to do.
Some observers of Arab GulfIran relations also speculated that Mr Rouhani’s trip may have been intended to drive a wedge between GCC countries on how to approach Tehran.
Days after Mr Rouhani’s visit, Mr Al Jubeir made strident remarks at the Munich Security Conference saying Iran and ISIL had a deal not to attack each other, and dismissed Tehran’s calls for talks with the GCC. “How can one deal with a nation whose objective is to destroy us?” he said. “So until and unless Iran changes its behaviour, and changes its outlook, it will be very difficult to deal with a country like this.”