ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Saudi Arabia has renewed its invitation for Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi to visit Riyadh, the Baghdad government spokesperson said Monday, days after a senior security delegation from Iraq visited the Kingdom. The renewed invite comes after Zaidi had reportedly "postponed" a previously-scheduled visit to Saudi Arabia following drone-related tensions with Riyadh.
Haider al-Aboudi, Iraqi government spokesperson, told the state-run al-Iraqiya channel, "Saudi Arabia has renewed its invitation to the [Iraqi] premier to visit Riyadh," without detailing if or when Zaidi would make the visit.
In late July, the Saudi-funded al-Arabiya channel reported that Zaidi had “postponed” a scheduled July 30 visit to Riyadh following joint US-Saudi airstrikes on Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) positions.
Washington and Riyadh struck positions belonging to the umbrella organization in Baghdad and five other provinces, which the PMF said killed "at least 20" of its members and injured “32 others.”
The US Central Command (CENTCOM) then stated that the "precision strikes in Iraq" targeted "Iran-aligned terrorists that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) directed to attack U.S. forces and Saudi energy infrastructure."
The Saudi defense ministry, meanwhile, framed the targeting as part of its response to the "reprehensible drone attacks carried out against the Kingdom by Iran-backed militias in Iraq," emphasizing "the Kingdom's determination to deter the perpetrators and its right to respond."
The strikes came shortly after Riyadh said in late July that "air defenses intercepted and destroyed a number of drones... which attempted to target oil facilities in the Eastern Province," Saudi defense ministry spokesperson Major General Turki al-Malki said in a statement.
"These terrorist attempts originated from Iraqi territory and were carried out by terrorist militias affiliated with Iran," Malki said.
However, Baghdad was quick to respond to the Saudi claims, stating there is no evidence that the attempted drone attack targeting the Kingdom's oil facilities was launched from Iraq.
The head of the Saudi General Intelligence Directorate, Khalid al-Humaidan, arrived in Baghdad in early August and met with Zaidi, where he conveyed "a message from the Saudi leadership," the Iraqi premier's office then said in a statement.
"The message included a renewed invitation for the prime minister to visit the capital, Riyadh, in addition to discussing ways to enhance joint coordination and cooperation regarding security developments in the region," the statement added.
Importantly, the renewed invite comes days after a high-profile Iraqi security delegation arrived in Saudi Arabia on Thursday for talks. The delegation was led by Abdul-Amir al-Shammari, director of the office of Iraq's commander-in-chief of the armed forces, and included Intelligence Service chief Hamid al-Shatri.
The state-run Iraqi News Agency (INA) reported at the time that talks with the Saudi side would address “a number of security files of mutual interest, including the file of drones, as well as ways to enhance security coordination and cooperation between the two countries.”
RELATED: High-level Iraqi security delegation in Saudi Arabia for talks amid drone attack tensions
.jpeg&w=3840&q=75)
