Iraq’s new Prime Minister Mustafa al Kadhimi’s, decision to make Saudi Arabia rather than Iran his first destination abroad contradicted what all his predecessors had done before. It was designed to send a clear message indicating that he has not only sympathised with the Trump-MBS outrage that Iraq’s previous PM – Adel Abdul Mehdi – has tilted the balance of power in favour of their arch foe Iran, but he is also determined to take practical steps to rein in what they perceive as Iranian perilous influence. In response, Iran dispatched its Foreign Minister Javad Zarif on 19 July, to Baghdad in order to underline that while Tehran would shield its interests in Iraq, it would nevertheless back Khadimi’s quest to mediate between Tehran and Riyadh.
And while the Kingdom’s de facto ruler, Mohammed bin Salman (MBS), cited his father’s sudden illness as an excuse for cancelling Kadhimi’s visit, yet in reality Riyadh has made no secret that it regarded Kadhimi’s steps to curb Iranian influence woefully short of achieving its overarching goal, namely dismantling the Popular Mobilisation Forces PMF, a government controlled grouping of predominantly Shia paramilitary units – formed after Grand Ayatollah Ali al Sistani’s fatwa in 2014 calling for the defence of Iraqi cities against ISIS. The PMF have spearheaded Iraq’s fight-back against ISIS. And given the unprecedented dire economic challenges facing Riyadh – largely due to MBS’s futile unwinnable war on Yemen and tumbling oil prices precipitated by COVID-19 – MBS was keen to avoid financially propping up Kadhimi’s government.
With Kadhimi’s visit to Tehran on 20 July under the spotlight, he emphasized that Iraq is hell-bent on balancing US-Iranian competing interests, urging both sides to refrain from turning Iraq into a battlefield. His appeal comes amid an escalating confrontation that was triggered on 3 January, by the US assassination of Gen. Qassem Soleimani head of Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guard Corps near Baghdad airport. Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei fired back reminding Kadhimi that the US had not merely assassinated Suleimani, a guest, on Iraqi soil – the ultimate humiliation according to Arabic tradition – but also defiantly bragged about it. More significantly, however, he insisted that Iran expects Kadhimi to implement Iraq’s Parliament resolution issued on 5 January, demanding the full withdrawal of all foreign troops.
