Al Khaleej Today – Saudi Arabia Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan visited Iraq on Thursday and is expected to announce new agreements between the two nations. The visit is Prince Faisal bin Farhan’s first to the Iraqi capital since assuming his post.
This visit comes at a time when Baghdad and Riyadh are seeking to strengthen their ties, especially in the fields of energy as Iraq is experiencing a shortage of electricity.
It is Prince Faisal’s first visit to Iraq since assuming the post last year. He is set to meet with his Iraqi counterpart Fuad Hussein and Prime Minister Mustafa Al Kadhimi.
Saudi Arabia is seeking to ride a wave of Iraqi national pride, reinvest economically and build relationships across ethnic and confessional lines in the country, according to the Crisis Group think tank.
The kingdom cut relations with Baghdad after it invaded Kuwait in 1990. But reconciliation between the two countries began in 2015, when Saudi Arabia reopened its embassy in Baghdad on April 4, after 25 years.
Consular services were not resumed until then and Iraqis applying for visas had to go through the Saudi embassy in Jordan.
