Will Iraq and Saudi Arabia Settle For Peace Under Al-Sudani’s Rule?

Iraq’s new Prime Minister, Mohammed Shia al-Sudani has shared that he would like to continue hosting talks in Iraq between regional arch-enemies Saudi Arabia and Iran during his time in office.

According to him, his newly formed administration has received several signs of interest in Iraq to proceed to facilitate a dialogue between Saudi Arabia and Iran. However, he did not reveal too much information about the ongoing talks.

“We were asked to continue,” he shared.

Since last year (2021), the country has hosted several talks with the Saudis and Iraq but all efforts have proven somewhat futile. Saudi Arabia has reportedly also talked to Iran in an effort to end its prolonged years of war in Yemen against the Houthi rebels who are backed by Iran.

Mohammed Shia al-Sudani has become the first government in power since 2005 to exclude seats from “the political bloc of influential Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.”