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Iraqi PM: Iran, Saudi Arabia close to reconciliation

Iraqi PM: Iran, Saudi Arabia close to reconciliation
posted onMay 1, 2022
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An end to long-term tension between regional rivals Iran and Saudi Arabia is near, Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhemi said in an interview published on Saturday.

Iraq has hosted five rounds of talks over the past year aimed at restoring ties between Sunni Saudi Arabia, and Shiite-majority Iran.

The  support rival sides in several conflict zones across the region, including in Yemen where the Huthi rebels are backed by Tehran, and Riyadh leads a military coalition supporting the government.

Iraqi officials have sounded increasingly optimistic, talking of an imminent sixth session and even going so far as to raise the prospect of a resumption in diplomatic relations severed in 2016.

In 2016, Iranian protesters attacked Saudi diplomatic missions in Iran after the kingdom executed Shiite cleric Nimr al-Nimr.