Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Kadhimi meet in Tehran, Iran on 12 September 2021. (Photo credit: Iranian Presidency Office via AP)
Caretaker Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Kadhimi is slated to visit Saudi Arabia and Iran in succession, according to sources who spoke exclusively to Al Mayadeen.
His visit, accompanied by a high-ranking delegation, will begin on the evening of 25 June.
The visits to the two countries are related to the ongoing negotiations between Riyadh and Tehran which are being mediated by Baghdad.
The talks have been hosted in the Iraqi capital.
Progress on re-establishing diplomatic ties between Saudi Arabia and Iran is one of the most important subjects to be discussed during the Iraqi prime minister’s trip to the two West Asian countries.
Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian was informed by his Iraqi counterpart on 16 June that the Iraqi government “is determined to facilitate direct talks between Saudi Arabia and Iran in Baghdad.”
The Iraqi prime minister stated on 7 June that the talks have achieved remarkable progress and are entering advanced stages.
On 24 May, Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Prince Faysal Bin Farhan al-Saud said there was “some but not enough” progress in the talks with Iran, although he also referred to the talks as a “new era of cooperation.”
His remarks came after Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh confirmed that Tehran had held a fifth round of “positive” talks with Riyadh in Baghdad.
Tehran and Riyadh severed diplomatic relations in 2016, but in recent months, the two countries have expressed a desire to improve relations.
Ties between Iran and Saudi Arabia were cut after Saudi authorities executed Shia cleric Sheikh Nimr Baqir al-Nimr, which led to angry protesters attacking the Saudi embassy in Tehran.
The fifth round of talks were held in April, after their suspension a month earlier.
Iran’s decision to suspend the talks was made after Saudi Arabia conducted a mass execution of 81 men, half of whom were members of the Shia community, over what the kingdom called “allegiance to foreign terrorist organizations and … deviant beliefs.”
Relations between Saudi Arabia and Iran have been frosty for years over a variety of issues, including the war on Yemen, where Riyadh and its allies have been fighting the Ansarallah resistance movement since March 2015.