Iraq intel and security officials visit Saudi Arabia after drone attacks

A senior Iraqi military and intelligence delegation visited Saudi Arabia on Thursday for talks on security cooperation and drone threats, as Riyadh and Baghdad work to repair ties after Saudi Arabia struck Iran-backed militias in Iraq last month in response to an attack on the kingdom. 

What happened: Saudi Defense Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman said he discussed bilateral military ties and regional developments with Lt. Gen. Abdul Amir al-Shammari, director of the office of Iraq's commander in chief. 

"Iraq will remain a dear neighbor to us, bound to its brotherly government and people by ties of brotherhood, solidarity, and mutual support," said Prince Khalid in a post on X. 

The delegation led by Shammari included intelligence director Hamid al-Shatri, air defense commander Lt. Gen. Muhannad al-Asadi, and counterterrorism chief Zaid Hawshi, the official Iraqi News Agency reported. The Iraqi officials traveled to Riyadh to discuss “the issue of drones, as well as ways to enhance security coordination and cooperation between the two countries," according to the outlet.

Why it matters: Late last month, the United States and Saudi Arabia carried out airstrikes on sites of the Popular Mobilization Units after blaming the militias for launching a drone attack against the kingdom. The Islamic Resistance in Iraq, another coalition of pro-Iran groups, denied targeting Saudi Arabia. It was not the first such incident. Al-Monitor reported in May that the majority of attacks on Saudi Arabia since the start of the US-Israel-Iran war in late February had been carried out by the Iraqi militias. 

The PMU is a coalition of predominantly Shiite militias that formed in 2014 to fight the Islamic State. Although they are technically part of the national armed forces, the militias largely operate independently of federal authorities in Baghdad, and many of them are supported by Iran.

Following the strikes, Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi had canceled a planned trip to Saudi Arabia set for late July but has since moved to reassure the kingdom about its security concerns. Iraqi government spokesperson Haider al-Aboudi said on Monday that Zaidi had received another invitation to visit Saudi Arabia, but that a date has yet to be set. 

Last Friday, Zaidi met with Saudi intelligence chief Khalid al-Humaidan in Baghdad, where the Iraqi premier pledged to prevent Iraq’s territory from being used to launch attacks on other countries. 

The Iraqi government appears to be stepping up efforts to prevent further drone attacks.

The country's interior ministry announced on Wednesday that it had seized more than 20 locally made drones in Baghdad and arrested four people for possessing the unmanned aircraft.  That same day, Zaidi visited an air defense site in Baghdad.

On Saturday, Aboudi told the local television station al-Rasheed that Iraqi authorities had recently thwarted a planned drone attack but did not name the target. 

Background: The Saudi strikes elicited a major outcry in Iraq. Aboudi said on Monday that the government had no prior knowledge of the attack and that Zaidi had instructed the Foreign Ministry to document the incident with the United Nations. On Sunday, the Sadiqoun parliament bloc called on Iraq to file a complaint with the UN over the strikes, while a spokesperson for the prominent Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr demanded justice over the failure to evacuate PMU sites before the air campaign, the Iraqi News Agency reported. The PMU said at least 20 of its fighters were killed in the attack. 

Sadiqoun is the political wing of Asaib Ahl al-Haq, an Iran-backed faction of the PMU that the United States has designated a terrorist organization. Asaib Ahl al-Haq is one of the few militias that has pledged to obey Zaidi’s Sept. 30 deadline for militias to integrate into the state security forces. 

Last Friday in a video message, Badr Organization leader Hadi al-Ameri urged Iraqi militias to delay responding to the US-Saudi strikes, citing Iraq’s “higher interests.”

“We promise all the fighters that we will pursue the rights of the martyrs and the wounded through diplomatic channels,” he said. Badr, another prominent pro-Iran group, has affiliates in Zaidi’s cabinet. 

Know more: Esmail Qaani, head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ Quds Force, visited Iraq earlier this week for talks with PMU leaders. Al-Monitor’s correspondent in Tehran wrote that Qaani’s visit represented an attempt by Iran to buy time ahead of the disarmament deadline, noting that Iran wants the militias to retain their weapons while avoiding a conflict over the issue with the Iraqi government.

Iraq has for years sought to maintain good ties with both Iran and the United States as well as Gulf states like Saudi Arabia, which often aligns with Washington. Trade between Iraq and Saudi Arabia totaled more than $2.2 billion in 2024, the majority from Saudi exports. 

Saudi Arabia is the top oil producer in OPEC, while Iraq is the cartel's second-biggest producer. The Saudi sovereign wealth fund, the PIF, launched a unit with $3 billion in capital to invest in Iraq in 2023, but economic ties have not advanced significantly since then.