Alwaght- Given the growing number of visits and meetings between officials, Saudi and Iraqi relations have entered a new phase in the past two years. This even grew broader following formation of a joint political, security, and military council and then visit to Saudi Arabia of the Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi in March last year. Also, third meeting of the joint council was held on January 10. Now the question is how can these meetings prepare the ground for strategic cooperation? Or better to say, how optimistic should Baghdad government be about strengthening the relationship with Saudi Arabia in post-ISIS period?
Joint council formation and its goals
The joint political, security, and military council followed a new trend of closeness between the two countries in 2020. In fact, the Saudi government's serious effort to get closer to Iraq began when Riyadh hosted a meeting with Iraq to invest in the country on October 14, 2020, in which the Saudis unveiled plan to invest $2.9 billion in various projects in Iraq, and Iraqi Planning Minister Khalid Batal al-Najm spoke of the existence of 6,000 investment projects worth $100 billion ready for Saudi investment. In the first round of the meeting of the joint council, there was an agreement on opening of Ar'ar border crossing and start of a road project linking Najaf to the Saudi border. There were also words about opening a new border crossing on the Iraqi border with Saudi Arabian province of Muthana.
In his 11th month in office, PM al-Kadhimi visited Riyadh on March 31, 2021 and met with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. They agreed to drop double taxation. Also other trade, cultural, and media agreements were reached between the two sides.
The second meeting of the council was held on August 16, 2021, during which the joint council of merchants was formed. The emphasis at the meetings was that the joint council seeks to support and strengthen economic relations and increase trade volume between Iraq and Saudi Arabia and that was the main driving force between formation of the council of merchants.
Third meeting's agreements and achievements
The third meeting of the council was held on January 10. Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein and his Saudi counterpart Faisal bin Farhan chaired the meeting. A statement published by the Iraqi ministry of foreign affairs stated that the two sides discussed issues on the agenda of the joint council in order to "strengthen and develop cooperation between the two countries in various fields."
During the meeting, the two sides discussed the continuation of cooperation and coordination on political, security, and military issues, and efforts to draw a common vision on issues of concern to the two countries in various fields, facilitating visa procedures for Iraqi and Saudi businessmen, consulting and coordinating mutual support in international institutions, strengthening security and intelligence cooperation in the fight against crime and smuggling, signing a security MoU between their interior ministries, holding joint military exercises, exchanging technical courses, and continuing to support Iraq in cooperation with the international coalition in fight against ISIS terrorist group.
Big doubts about a clear outlook for Riyadh-Baghdad cooperation
The issue of the entry of Iraq and Saudi Arabia into an era of strategic cooperation is raised in a situation where there is an entrenched conflict of goals and interests and there are historical tensions in their relations. So, there would not be an appropriate ground for their strategic cooperation. There are two reasons for such a claim:
Baghdad-Riyadh relations have been tense for essentially all of the years since 1990, when Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait. Diplomatic relations between the two countries remained tense even after the fall of the Ba'athist regime in 2003. Basically, the Saudis were dissatisfied with the new changes in the Iraqi political scene and did not tolerate the exclusion of Sunnis from power. Driven by this discontentment with Iraq power change, Riyadh since 2003 became hostile to Iraq and its new system, and spared no action in opposition to the new leadership. By fueling divisions among political groups, supporting terrorist groups, disrupting social cohesion, and maximum opposition to unity of political factions, Saudi Arabia played a negative role in the Iraqi politics and sovereignty arenas.
Untill 2015, Saudi Arabia had no ambassador in Iraq. Its first ambassador to Baghdad, Thamer al-Sabhan, interfered massively in the Iraqi home affairs. After several diplomatic protests and statements, the Iraqi government on August 25, 2016 officially called on Riyadh to change its ambassador as he promoted sectarianism and rifely intervened in the country’s affairs. During ISIS presence in Iraq, the kingdom continued its destructive role, and now there are concerns that it would continue its old policies.
Baghdad-Riyadh's conflicting views on terrorism and security
Although so far, as a result of the three rounds of meetings of the joint council, agreements have been reached on various issues, basically it should be noted that political, military, and security cooperation between the two sides cannot upgrade to a strategic level and unity due to their conflict of views. Given the conflicting interests, such as Saudi dispatch of terrorist groups to Iraq and waging war on Yemen with which Iraq sympathizes and also the Saudi goal of interference in the Iraqi affairs, the agreements cannot yield results expected by the Iraqi government.
The reality is that the negotiations take place between Riyadh and Baghdad while Saudi destructive role in Iraq in the form of sponsoring terrorism since 2014 and even before that and also cooperation with the remnants of the dissolved Ba'athist party using ISIS card are no secret. To be precise, it is the matter of standing on two totally opposite sides; one part of the Axis of Resistance and anti-American presence in the region and the other against the Axis of Resistance, in favor of normalization with the Israeli regime, and aligned with the American regional military presence. Therefore, unity of two opposites is in practice impossible and can never lead to strategic cooperation and results.
