Iraq expresses its commitment to hosting the Iranian-Saudi talks

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
1 Jul 2022 09:42
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In a phone call between the Iraqi Foreign Minister and his Iranian counterpart, Baghdad expresses its readiness to provide the appropriate atmosphere for the resumption of Iranian-Saudi talks.

Iranian and Iraq Foreign Ministers (archive)

During a telephone conversation with his Iranian counterpart Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein affirmed his country's readiness to provide the necessary grounds for resuming political talks between Iran and Saudi Arabia.

The Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that the Iraqi Foreign Minister made a phone call to his Iranian counterpart, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, on Thursday, during which they discussed bilateral relations, joint cooperation, and Saudi-Iranian negotiations.

The Iraqi foreign minister said, "We are ready to create the appropriate atmosphere and ground for launching political talks between Iran and Saudi Arabia in Baghdad," adding "I hope that these dialogues between these two important regional countries will result in positive developments."

For his part, the Iranian Foreign Minister expressed his thanks for the efforts made by Iraqi officials regarding facilitating the affairs of Iranian pilgrims, calling on the Iraqi government to follow up on the remaining issues for these pilgrims.

Last Monday, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh announced that Saudi Arabia and Iran had held the fifth round of talks, which was "comprehensive, good and serious", but it has not yet reached the stage of real political dialogue, suggesting the possibility of rapid progress if that is reached.

Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi had previously confirmed that the Iranian-Saudi talks, which took place in Baghdad, "reached advanced stages," noting that "Iraq played an important role in converging views between regional countries, by hosting the dialogue between Saudi Arabia and Iran."

Al-Kadhimi visited Tehran a few days ago after he visited Jeddah in Saudi Arabia, where he held a meeting with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

Iraq has so far hosted five rounds of talks between Iran and Saudi Arabia in Baghdad.