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Is new ambassador sign of thaw in Baghdad-Riyadh relations?

Saudi Arabia restores diplomatic relations with Iraq by appointing an ambassador to Baghdad, but the kingdom will need to recognize the diversity of the Shiite political actors in Iraq and shift its foreign policy accordingly. ‪
Iraqi men demonstrate in Baghdad, to show support for Yemen's Shi'ite Houthis and in protest of an air campaign in Yemen by a Saudi-led coalition, March 31, 2015. Saudi troops clashed with Yemeni Houthi fighters on Tuesday in the heaviest exchange of cross-border fire since the start of a Saudi-led air offensive last week, while Yemen's foreign minister called for a rapid Arab intervention on the ground. REUTERS/Thaier Al-Sudani - RTR4VNDE

On June 3, Saudi Arabia appointed its first resident ambassador to Iraq after 25 years. The long-lasting rift between the two countries followed Saddam Hussein’s invasion of Kuwait in August 1990. At their best, relations between the two countries had always been tense, oscillating between uneasy accommodation and hostility. The appointment of Thamer al-Sabhan as the new Saudi ambassador may ease off the tension between the two countries and encourage other Gulf Cooperation Council states to follow the lead. Iraq welcomed the decision to resume diplomatic relations with Saudi Arabia, according to Saudi sources. But starting a new era of cooperation and trust need more than the restoration of diplomatic relations.

Both countries have drifted away from each other and replaced the rivalry that had been masked in the 1980s by the shadow of the Iran-Iraq War with utter ostracization and even hostility, especially after the 2003 US invasion in Iraq. Since then, Saudi-Iraqi relations became hostage to two outcomes of the invasion, each mitigated against immediate reconciliation and cooperation.

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