Saudi Arabia and Iraq announced - today, Thursday - that the two countries are working together to reduce tension in the region and enhance its stability, during a visit by Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan to the capital, Baghdad.

The Saudi minister said - in a press conference he held with his Iraqi counterpart Fuad Hussein - that economic stability in the region will not be achieved without the region being safe and stable, appreciating Iraq's role in that.

He added that the relationship with Iraq is witnessing a great positive momentum in the recent period, thanks to the directives of the leaderships of the two countries, and we are constantly working with this momentum, especially in the economic aspect.

For his part, Iraqi Foreign Minister Fouad Hussein said that cooperation continues between his country and Saudi Arabia in several fields, most notably security, trade, investment and energy, explaining that he discussed with his Saudi counterpart reducing tension in the region and full coordination in oil policy.

Hussein added that the visit of the Saudi foreign minister is important and comes at a time characterized by many challenges and very sensitive circumstances, so it is important to hold dialogues and discussions about challenges that concern the region in general.

Prince Faisal arrived in Baghdad on an official visit that includes meetings with the three presidencies of the government, the republic and parliament.

Relations between Iraq and Saudi Arabia resumed in 2015, and developed rapidly over the past few years after they were severed since 1990 following the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait.

Since 2021, Baghdad has been hosting talks between Iran and Saudi Arabia, the last of which took place in April 2022 to end the estrangement that has extended since 2016, in the hope of reaching understandings regarding differences in several files, most notably the Yemen war.