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Iranian-Saudi agreement on Iraq may be near

While key issues remain, Iran and Saudi Arabia are reportedly close to agreeing on the formation of an Iraqi government, clearing the way to focus on another regional crisis.
Iraq's Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki reviews the honour guard upon his arrival in Moscow April 9, 2009. Maliki is to meet Russia's President Dmitry Medvedev during his visit to Russia.  REUTERS/Sergei Karpukhin  (RUSSIA POLITICS) - RTXDTLO
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A UN diplomatic source in Beirut told Al-Monitor that an Iranian-Saudi agreement on the formation of the next Iraqi government was almost done. The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, revealed that the visit by the Iranian Assistant Foreign Minister Hussein Amir Abdul Lahian to Saudi Arabia on Aug. 26 was the move that crowned the agreement.

The source said that some felt a few weeks ago that removing Nouri al-Maliki from the Iraqi Prime Ministry and designating Haider al-Abadi on Aug.11 was the final sign of a Tehran-Riyadh agreement on Baghdad. But this impression was not true.

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