Saudi intelligence chief meets Iraqi PM, renews Riyadh visit invitation

What the report says

Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi met Saudi intelligence chief Khalid bin Ali Al Humaidan in Baghdad on Friday, according to Al Jazeera, in a fresh effort to ease tensions between Iraq and Saudi Arabia after recent cross-border strikes. The meeting came weeks after a joint US-Saudi operation on July 29 that killed fighters from Iraqi armed groups and led al-Zaidi to cancel an earlier planned trip to Riyadh.

Al Humaidan renewed the invitation for al-Zaidi to visit the Saudi capital, and the two sides discussed ways to improve security coordination, the Iraqi prime minister’s office said. Al-Zaidi repeated his position that Iraqi territory should not be used to launch attacks on other countries and said Baghdad remains committed to protecting its sovereignty.

The report said relations have been strained since Saudi Arabia accused Iran-aligned Iraqi armed groups of carrying out drone attacks on its oil facilities, a charge Baghdad rejected as a violation of national sovereignty. Iraqi authorities have since increased security inside the country and along its borders to reduce the risk of retaliation.

The broader backdrop is Iraq’s long-running effort to manage pressure from both Washington and Tehran while keeping armed factions under state control. Al-Zaidi, who took office earlier this year with US backing, has set a deadline for those groups to disarm, though that plan has faced resistance from powerful factions.