Baghdad to keep pushing for Iran-Saudi reconciliation, Iraq FM says

Baghdad will keep pushing for reconciliation between Middle East rivals Iran and Saudi Arabia, Iraq's foreign minister said on Thursday.

Hussein spoke to his Iranian counterpart Hussein Amir Abdollahian on the phone , according to a foreign ministry statement carried by Iraqi state media.

Riyadh severed ties with Tehran in 2016 after Iranian protesters stormed the Saudi embassy in the Iranian capital following the execution of a Shia cleric in Saudi Arabia.

However, Iraq has helped broker talks between Riyadh and Tehran, which are locked in proxy conflicts across the Middle East, including in Iraq. The two countries have had five rounds of direct talks since April 2021.

Hussein expressed Baghdad's "determination to continue facilitating direct talks" between the two countries, and to "restore their relations to a normal state".

Abdollahian said that the latest round of talks with Saudi Arabia were "positive", according to the statement.

However, no meeting between Saudi and Iranian foreign ministers has been scheduled in the foreseeable future, an official from the Saudi foreign ministry said last month.

The call between the two foreign ministers comes as Saudi Arabia will host US President Joe Biden for talks next month. Other leaders in the region will head to Saudi Arabia to meet Biden, including Qatar's emir.

Iran’s "destabilising behaviour" in the region will be among the topics of discussion, John Kirby, US coordinator for strategic communications at the National Security Council said Tuesday.