Iraq PM: Iran, Saudi Arabia to soon reach agreement on fixing ties

In an interview with Iraq’s official Al Sabaah newspaper, Mustafa al-Kadhimi said his country “directly benefits” from a consensus among states of the region and stability there.

Since Iraq, he added, has good relations with Iran and Saudi Arabia, besides other opposing regional players, it managed to arrange a “positive climate” for talks between the two Middle East powers on its soil.

“Brothers in Iran and Saudi Arabia have been seriously addressing the dossier of negotiations and the region’s current requirements. We believe an agreement will be achieved soon,” the premier added.

Five rounds of talks have so far been brokered by Baghdad between Tehran and Riyadh. Iraq said recently that it planned to host a sixth such session, without providing a date.

Saudi Arabia severed its ties with Iran following an attack by Iranian protesters against the kingdom’s embassy in Iran in 2016. The protesters were angry at Saudi Arabia over its execution of top Shia cleric Sheikh Nimr Baghir al-Nimr.

The rupture in their ties came amid deep divisions between the two sides over a number of regional crises and issues, including the Syria conflict, the war on Yemen, and Tehran’s nuclear program.