Saudi Arabia and Iraq have continued to reinforce bilateral political and economic cooperation by discussing a number of potential energy, petrochemical, and agricultural projects.
The Kingdom and Iraq have also been discussing boosting regional peace and security.
“Today I was pleased to visit Iraq, a country with which we have deep historic ties and share an ambitious future,” Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal Bin Farhan tweeted.
The FM arrived in Iraq on Thursday at a time when Baghdad and Riyadh are seeking to strengthen their ties, especially in energy as Iraq is experiencing a shortage of electricity.
“I discussed with Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi the steadily growing bilateral relations and common challenges and conveyed to him the greetings of the Kingdom's leadership and its good wishes to the brotherly Iraqi people,” Prince Farhan clarified in a tweet about Saudi-Iraqi ties.
Saudi Arabia is “a true partner to Iraq,” said Kadhimi, for his part, adding that Baghdad is “looking forward to building excellent relations… in a way that achieves a better future for both countries.”
Iraqi Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ahmed al-Sahaf revealed that Prince Farhan also met with his Iraqi counterpart, Fuad Hussein.
Al-Sahaf, in statements he made to Asharq Al-Awsat, said that the two officials talked about many issues, especially bilateral ties and implementing memorandums of understanding signed by previous Iraqi governments.
“Deepening economic and investment relations between the two countries, including those related to agriculture and petrochemicals, and supplying Iraq with energy, were also discussed,” al-Sahaf added about the two foreign ministers’ meeting.
The two sides also discussed linking Iraq’s energy to the countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council, he told Asharq Al-Awsat.
Both Prince Farhan and Hussein, according to al-Sahaf, confirmed the importance of reinforcing security and stability in the region and the need to support Iraq on all levels.
“The two sides also discussed the outcomes of the Iraqi prime minister's visit to Washington and the results of the recently held Amman tripartite meeting,” al-Sahaf revealed.
