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Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi received Saudi Arabia's General Intelligence chief, Lt. Gen. Khalid al-Humaidan, in Baghdad, where the two discussed security coordination between the two countries and regional developments, according to a statement from the Iraqi prime minister's press office posted on the U.S.-based social media platform X.
The meeting, held in the Iraqi capital, comes weeks after a wave of drone attacks on Saudi oil facilities and subsequent U.S.-Saudi airstrikes in Iraq strained relations between Baghdad and Riyadh.
According to the statement, al-Humaidan delivered a letter from the Saudi leadership inviting al-Zaidi to visit Riyadh. The two sides also discussed ways to strengthen joint coordination and cooperation on security developments in the region.
Al-Zaidi stressed his government's determination to reinforce cooperation with Saudi Arabia in a manner that would serve the shared interests of the two "brotherly countries and their peoples," and contribute to supporting regional security and stability, the statement said.
Al-Zaidi said his government adhered to the principle of good neighborliness, adding that Baghdad was "determined not to allow its territory to be used for any action or activity that would harm any country," in order to protect Iraq's sovereignty and the interests of its people.
The meeting follows a sharp escalation between the two countries in recent weeks. Saudi Arabia's Defense Ministry said on July 27 that its air defense systems had intercepted and destroyed a number of drones that attempted to target oil facilities in the kingdom's eastern region and in Riyadh, saying the attacks had been launched from Iraqi territory by Iran-aligned militias.
Two days later, on July 29, the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) announced that American and Saudi forces had carried out airstrikes against Iran-aligned group targets in eastern Iraq.
Iraq's Popular Mobilization Forces, known as Hashd al-Shaabi, an umbrella of mostly Shiite paramilitary groups formally integrated into the Iraqi state security apparatus, said in a written statement that the joint U.S.-Saudi strikes had hit its official centers in Baghdad, Wasit, Mosul, Basra, Kirkuk, Karbala and Diyala provinces. The group said at least 20 of its members were killed and 30 wounded in the strikes.
The Iraqi presidency condemned the strikes on Hashd al-Shaabi facilities across the country and warned against the use of Iraqi territory as a venue for "settling scores."
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