TEHRAN: As part of Baghdad’s efforts to mediate between the two Middle Eastern superpowers, the prime minister of Iraq met with the leaders of rival nations Saudi Arabia and Iran on Sunday to discuss regional security.
Following a meeting with Saudi Arabia’s de facto leader Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in the Saudi city of Jeddah, Mustafa al-Kadhemi paid a visit to Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi in Tehran in an effort to mend fences between the two countries, who have not had diplomatic relations since 2016.
“We highlighted the need for regional leaders to negotiate with one another to settle the region’s difficulties,” Raisi said, appearing to accept the mediation offer. Iran and Iraq “think that the role of all regional leaders depends on peace and tranquilly in the area,”
Although there have been rumours that a visit by US Vice President Joe Biden to Riyadh could signal better ties between the monarchy and the Jewish state, he has criticised all attempts at rapprochement with Israel.
The normalisation of ties with the Zionist state or the arrival of outsiders will not address any issues in the region, according to Raisi, but rather exacerbate them.
As part of the Abraham Accords, which were mediated by the US, Israel established diplomatic links with the UAE, Bahrain, and Morocco in 2020. According to Kadhemi and Raisi, they “agreed on the necessity to maintain regional peace and combat food hunger.”
