ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — Iraq’s prime minister visited Saudi Arabia on Wednesday, which Iraqi state media reports has led to the signing of several new agreements. Iraqi PM Mustafa al-Kadhimi arrived at the Saudi capital of Riyadh on Wednesday, where he was welcomed by Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman. “The meeting stressed the importance of continuing discussions between officials of the two countries in a number of important files, and coordinating joint efforts within the framework of the Iraqi-Saudi Coordination Council, in a way that achieves the interests of the two countries and their people,” reads a statement from Kadhimi’s office on Telegram. “Meetings were held at the coordination council level between the two countries, where 5 agreements were signed, in the financial, commercial, economic, cultural, and media fields,” Saudi-owned al-Arabiya reported. Iraqi state media later confirmed the signing of the agreements. Iraq and Saudi have enjoyed closer ties in recent years, as Saudi Arabia looks to offset Iranian influence in the region. Rapprochement between the two began in 2015, when Saudi Arabia reopened their Baghdad embassy after 25 years of closure. Saudi Arabia announced in mid-October it would increase their investments in Iraq by 10 billion Saudi riyals ($2.7 billion USD), as reported by Saudi Press Agency. This agreement between the two countries resulted in criticism by a number of Iraqi Shiite political parties. Qais Khazali, leader of Iran-backed Asa'ib Ahl al-Haq, released a statement on October 30 slamming the Saudi projects, claiming that the investments in Anbar, Najaf, Muthana, and Basra would damage Iraq's security and stability. Iraq and Saudi Arabia reopened the Arar border crossing in November after almost 30 years of closure. The crossing had been closed since 1991, after relations between the neighboring states deteriorated following Iraq's invasion of Kuwait. Since then, it had only opened once a year to allow Iraqi pilgrims passage for Hajj.
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