Saudi Arabia, Iraq Kick off Early Stages of Military Cooperation

Iraqi security forces stand guard at the Iraqi side of the Arar border crossing in Anbar, Iraq, Wednesday, Nov. 18, 2020. (AP)
Iraqi security forces stand guard at the Iraqi side of the Arar border crossing in Anbar, Iraq, Wednesday, Nov. 18, 2020. (AP)
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Saudi Arabia, Iraq Kick off Early Stages of Military Cooperation

Iraqi security forces stand guard at the Iraqi side of the Arar border crossing in Anbar, Iraq, Wednesday, Nov. 18, 2020. (AP)
Iraqi security forces stand guard at the Iraqi side of the Arar border crossing in Anbar, Iraq, Wednesday, Nov. 18, 2020. (AP)

The Saudi military attaché in Iraq, Colonel Nasser Al-Saadoun, announced his country’s readiness to support the Iraqi military institution.

In a statement on Monday, the Iraqi Ministry of Defense said that the Army Chief of Staff, Lieutenant General Abdul Amir Rashid Yarallah, received Al-Saadoun, adding that the meeting discussed “prospects for cooperation and coordination between the two friendly countries in the military field.”

Iraq and the Kingdom have maintained security cooperation throughout the past years. In 2012, the exchange of delegations in the field of border security and intelligence cooperation resumed. A number of senior security officials visited Riyadh, including Qassem Al-Araji, former interior minister, and Faleh Al-Fayyad, former national security advisor.

However, joint military cooperation would be the first of its kind in the history of relations between the two neighbors. While the details and extent of such cooperation are not clear yet, the new announcement reflects a transformation in the bilateral ties, especially with the opening of the Arar border crossing and the declared willingness of Saudi companies to invest in Iraq.

“Iraqi-Saudi relations are witnessing development in the political, economic, security and military fields,” National Security Professor at Al-Nahrain University in Baghdad, Dr. Hussein Allawi, told Asharq Al-Awsat.

He noted that the exchange of visits between Iraqi-Saudi military delegations reflected an evolving cooperation in various fields.”

Allawi also said that the two countries were deploying joint efforts to fight terrorism and working through the international coalition to combat ISIS.

He stressed that his country was seeking to promote economic investment with Saudi Arabia in the fields of energy, petrochemicals and agriculture.

“The Iraqi people are ready to work with Saudi companies to develop their economy and improve the country’s infrastructure,” Allawi remarked.



Iraqi Oil Minister: Kurdistan Region's Oil Exports to Resume Next Week

A view shows the al-Shuaiba oil refinery in southwest Basra, Iraq April 20, 2017. Reuters
A view shows the al-Shuaiba oil refinery in southwest Basra, Iraq April 20, 2017. Reuters
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Iraqi Oil Minister: Kurdistan Region's Oil Exports to Resume Next Week

A view shows the al-Shuaiba oil refinery in southwest Basra, Iraq April 20, 2017. Reuters
A view shows the al-Shuaiba oil refinery in southwest Basra, Iraq April 20, 2017. Reuters

Oil exports from the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region will resume next week, Iraq's oil minister said on Monday, resolving a near two-year dispute as ties between Baghdad and Erbil improve.
The oil flows were halted by Türkiye in March 2023 after the International Chamber of Commerce ordered Ankara to pay Baghdad damages of $1.5 billion for unauthorized pipeline exports by the Kurdistan Regional Government between 2014 and 2018.

"Tomorrow, a delegation from the Ministry of Oil... will visit the Kurdish region to negotiate the mechanism for receiving oil from the region and exporting it. The export process will resume within a week," Oil Minister Hayan Abdel-Ghani told reporters.

According to Reuters, he added that Baghdad would receive 300,000 barrels per day from the region.

Erbil-based Rudaw TV earlier cited Kurdistan's natural resources minister, Kamal Mohammed, as saying oil exports could resume before March as all legal procedures have been completed.

The Iraqi parliament approved a budget amendment this month to subsidize production costs for international oil companies operating in Kurdistan, a move aimed at unblocking northern oil exports.

The resumption is expected to ease economic pressure in the Kurdistan region, where the halt has led to salary delays for public sector workers and cuts to essential services.