In a bold step, Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani called Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa to congratulate him on the formation of the new Syrian government. Sudani has taken the initiative, and this gesture will contribute to rebuilding trust between the two governments after decades of political animosity. The two countries’ hostile relationship dates back to when they were both governed by Baath regimes. During the difficult phase that followed these regimes’ collapse, ideological grudges severed nearly all human, social, cultural, and religious ties between the two peoples.
Both sides have suffered dearly. Since 2003, Iraq has been contending with peril coming through the Syrian corridor, which was used to export terrorists into Iraq’s territory- a process overseen by the Assad regime. This culminated in the terrorist attack of August 19, 2009, a date that came to be known as "Black Wednesday." Former Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki accused the Syrian regime of orchestrating the attack and asked the UN Security Council to launch an independent investigation and hold the perpetrators accountable at the International Criminal Court.
On the other side of the border, the Syrian people have endured immense suffering at the hands of ideological armed groups, both Iraqi and non-Iraqi militants who intervened in the civil war to prop up the Syrian Baath regime as it was committing genocide against its people for demanding freedom. These groups are blamed for extending the life of the regime by several years, and during this time, they committed massacres and atrocities that the Syrian people have not forgotten.
From a humanitarian and ethical perspective, the two Baath regimes are indistinguishable from one another, and the same is true for Sunni jihadist Salafism and Shiite jihadist fundamentalism. From the suppression of the 1991 uprisings in Iraq to the clamp down on the Syrian people's revolution in 2011, all the atrocities were committed in the name of religion and ideology, severing ties among all the region’s peoples, not just Syrians and Iraqis.
Returning to the phone call and its various humanitarian dimensions, this gesture of goodwill sought to heal the wounds of the two peoples. It will facilitate bridging the divide and moving beyond their painful history. Moreover, it lays the groundwork for a relationship founded on good neighborliness and political stability, which both capitals need, given their geopolitical and economic ties as key points of transit in an Arab and Islamic region that has many shared interests.
Sharaa and Sudani have shown exceptional courage in deciding to pursue dialogue and bear the domestic costs it brings. Indeed, hardline positions are prevalent on both sides of the border, with many advocating retaliation and the severance of diplomatic ties. The swift steps taken by both parties reflect pragmatic flexibility, and they have allowed this essential relationship to gradually evolve. This began with the early visit of Iraqi intelligence chief Hamid al-Shatri to Damascus, which was followed by the mediation efforts of Iraqi politician Izzat al-Shahbandar. The Kurdish leadership in Erbil has also played a positive role in this regard; so has the Iraqi leader Muqtada al-Sadr, who affirmed the Syrian people’s right to self-determination early on, on the eve of Assad’s downfall. This trajectory has continued with Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani’s visit to Baghdad, and it could progress further with the participation of President Sharaa in the upcoming Arab Summit in Baghdad.
As part of the effort to mend this rift, Sharaa received a delegation of notable figures and religious leaders from the Syrian Shiite Muslim community on the 29th of March. The meeting was intended to strengthen national dialogue and push back against extremist propaganda from both sides. Particularly notable were Sharaa's remarks on freedom of belief and his emphasis on the "sanctity of Sayyida Zainab bint Ali’s shrine in the eyes of the Syrian presidency." He went further and said that he has been personally attached to this site since he was a child and that he would be visiting it soon, affirming that the management of Shiite shrines has been left to the community.
His statements suggest that the Syrian people and government have safeguarded religious sites, pouring cold water on the claims that had been used as a pretext to protect a criminal regime.
His remarks bring to mind the joint statement issued in August 2012, almost 13 years ago, by the late Lebanese Shiite clerics Hani Fahs and Mohammad Hassan al-Amin. They voiced their unwavering support for the Syrian people's revolution. Later on, Sheikh Fahs famously sent a letter just before passing on August 5, 2014, to Hezbollah’s leadership regarding their intervention in Syria. He did not mince his words:
"The course you have taken in supporting your beloved regime and its president in Syria might not yield even the slightest benefit in comparison to its deep and overwhelming harm- on Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, and on yourselves."
Accordingly, a new phase has begun. The path to reshaping this relationship is laden with landmines, traps, and schemes to incite seditions that have claimed countless innocent lives, the latest being those we saw on the Syrian coast. Nonetheless, there have been voices that, even at early stages, foresaw the possibility of reconciliation, and progress now requires courageous decisions.
