Iraqi PM walks a tightrope balancing tensions between GCC and Iran

Iran's president Hassan Rouhani, right, welcomes Iraqi prime minister Haider Al Abadi at his office in Tehran, Iran on June 20, 2017. Iranian Presidency Office via AP

ABU DHABI // Iraq’s prime minister visited Tehran on Tuesday as he walks a diplomatic tightrope during a tour of the region aiming at strengthen ties and easing heightened tensions between the GCC and Iran.

His trip to Tehran comes a day after his first visit to Saudi Arabia since taking office and as tensions between Iran and Riyadh escalated.

On Monday, Saudi Arabia captured and arrested three member’s of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard who the interior ministry claimed were intending to carry out an attack on an offshore oilfield. The guards are being questioned by Saudi authorities.

Iran denied the claims and said last week that Saudi Arabia has ties to terrorist groups across the Middle East while accusing the US for being responsible for the Islamist militancy destabilising the region.

رئيس مجلس الوزراء الدكتور حيدر العبادي خلال وصوله الى طهران بعد اختتام زيارته للمملكة العربية السعودية. pic.twitter.com/23eXG51PKc

Mr Al Abadi’s tour aims to reconcile differences between Sunni countries in the region and the majority Shiite Iraq and to bolster his political situation at home ahead of elections in Iraq next year.

He had also hoped to mend fences between Saudi Arabia and Iran and maintain neutrality on the Qatar crisis having already postponed his trip from last week to avoid being perceived as taking sides on the issue.

Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Bahrain have cut off diplomatic relations with Doha earlier this month over Qatar’s support of terror groups and interfering in the domestic politics of its neighbours.

During his talks with King Salman on Monday, Mr Al Abadi discussed efforts to bolster the fight against terrorism by increasing cooperation.

On Tuesday the two countries announced setting up a coordination council to upgrade strategic ties.

The neighbours had achieved a “quantum leap” in bilateral relations and the move will be seen as bolstering cooperation between ISIL, a joint statement said.

The road to stronger ties between Saudi Arabia and Iraq has been hampered in recent years by growing Iranian interference in the country. Iran deployed troops across Iraq in the fight against ISIL and is accused of heavy political interference in the country since the US-led invasion in 2003.

During his meeting with Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the deputy crown prince of Saudi Arabia, on Monday, Mr Al Abadi discussed the fight against ISIL and emphasised the need for regional support in the battle against terrorism.

“We have not won against Daesh, but we have won our people and their cooperation when we did not distinguish between the Iraqis,” Mr Al Abadi said.

As a more moderate member of the Islamic Dawa Party, a Shiite-affiliated political bloc, Mr Al Abadi looks to appeal to the majority Shiite population as a hardliner against ISIL.

But he must also appease his Sunni constituents while separating himself from Tehran’s interference in the country and downplaying his political party’s historical ties to Iran.

“It’s in Al Abadi’s interests to be seen as promoting Sunni-Shiite relations as his political career at home depends on his ability to appease both sides,” said a political analyst based in Kuwait.

Before leaving Saudi Arabia, Mr Al Abadi performed Umrah pilgimrimage in Mecca

He will travel to Kuwait on Wednesday for the third and final stage of his tour. Kuwait, which did not sever ties with Qatar, has been trying to mend the rift between the GCC countries.

Saudi Arabia reopened its embassy in Baghdad in 2015 after 25 years and in February, Saudi foreign minister Adel Al Jubeir made a rare visit to Baghdad.

King Salman and Mr Al Abadi last met in March at the Arab summit. Their countries are the first and second largest OPEC producers and cooperated in November to bring about an agreement to support crude prices.​

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