Iraq's PM: Baghdad Preparing Ground for ‘High-level’ Meeting between Iran, Saudi Arabia

“We are working on a high-level meeting between the two countries in Baghdad, and the two parties are ready to join the advanced the stages of negotiations. We are preparing the ground and the atmosphere in Iraq to host the next round,” said Kadhimi Kadhimi in an interview with French daily Le Figaro published on Monday.

The Iraqi premier did not provide any date for such a meeting.

Baghdad has so far hosted five rounds of negotiations between Iran and Saudi Arabia in an effort to help the two Persian Gulf neighbors mend fences and restore diplomatic relations.

When asked whether he was optimistic about the prospect of Tehran-Riyadh talks, Kadhimi said, “The past rounds created important elements of trust between the two parties.”

The two sides, he added, crossed major stages and took important steps, and “discovered that they have many commonalities, and that they must build on these commonalities and negotiate contentious matters.”

“We hope that they will reach a final agreement and that the restoration of relations will be officially announced in the near future,” Kadhimi added.

In an interview with Iraq’s Rudaw television last Tuesday, Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein said Baghdad was working with Tehran and Riyadh to help boost the representation of the two sides in the talks from security and intelligence levels to the foreign ministerial level.

Hussein said Iraq continued to mediate the process of negotiations which is aimed at fixing the troubled ties between the two Persian Gulf neighbors.

Hussein announced in July that Tehran and Riyadh had agreed to hold the first “public” meeting in years at the level of Foreign Ministers in Baghdad. However, the top Iraqi diplomat later said additional details and points of discussions for the meeting were unavailable.

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian appreciated at that time the “constructive” role of Iraq in advancing regional dialog and said there has been “progress” in the last five rounds of talks with Saudi Arabia.

Amir-Abdollahian said he had told Iraqi mediators that Tehran was ready for a new political and security phase with Riyadh, expressing hope that the measure would “eventually lead to the return of Saudi Arabia and the Islamic Republic of Iran relations to normal.”