RIYADH: Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman hosted Iraq´s Prime MinisterAdel Abdel Mahdi for talks on Wednesday focused on attacks on the kingdom´soil infrastructure, which Washington has blamed on Iran.
“The meeting dealt with regional developments, particularly the sabotageattacks on Saudi Aramco plants in Abqaiq and Khurais, stressing Iraqikeenness on the security and stability of the kingdom,” the official SaudiPress Agency reported.
The September 14 attacks on state oil giant Aramco, which initially halvedthe kingdom´s crude output and sent global energy markets into a tailspin,have escalated regional tensions.
Yemen’s Iran-backed Huthi rebels claimed responsibility for the strikes,but the US says the attacks involved cruise missiles from Iran and amountedto “an act of war”.
Baghdad, caught between its two main allies — Tehran and Washington — hasdenied any link to the attacks amid reports that the assault was launchedfrom Iraq.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has also said there was no evidence theattacks were launched from Iraq.
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Mahdi´s expression of solidarity with Saudi Arabia comes amid a steadywarming of ties between Baghdad and Riyadh after decades of strain.
Iraqi Oil Minister Thamer al-Ghadban separately held talks Wednesday withhis Saudi counterpart Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, SPA reported.
The Gulf powerhouse severed relations and closed its border with itsnorthern neighbour after late Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein´s August 1990invasion of Kuwait.
But a flurry of visits between the two countries in recent months hasindicated a thawing of ties as Riyadh seeks to counter Iran´s strongpresence in Iraqi politics. -APP/AFP
