Iraqi president leaves Tehran to Saudi Arabia as regional tour continues
Iraqi President Barham Saleh
Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) Iraqi President Barham Saleh left Tehran today, Sunday, heading to Saudi Arabia, another step in his regional tour which included UAE, Kuwait and Jordan.
His visit to Saudi Arabia comes in response to an earlier invitation by the kingdom’s monarch, King Salman bin Abdulaziz.
Saleh, who assumed his post in October as the first president of Iraq after the ouster of Islamic State militants, is flying between the region’s most prominent adversaries, Tehran and Riyadh.
Iran, the heartland of Shia Islam, had long been considered of irreversible influence over Iraq’s Shia majority’s politics. Baghdad’s relations with Sunni-ruled Riyadh, meanwhile, had been tensional but witnessed improvement towards the end of the war against IS.
Salehm during his Iran visit, showed, along with his Iranian counterparts, eagerness to preserve “historical” ties between both nations.
Iraqi officials, following victory over IS, reiterated anxiousness to build balanced relations with world countries in a way that preserves Iraq’s sovereignty.