Amid fears of interference by neighboring countries in determining the future of Iraqi territory being liberated from the Islamic State (IS), Baghdad has launched an intensive diplomatic effort to improve and cement relations with states in the region.

The political map in Iraq in the post-IS era is yet to be shaped. Will Iraq remain unified based on a political system of partnership between the Shiites, Sunnis and Kurds? Will the Sunni areas be granted some sort of autonomous rule similar to the Kurdistan Region model, or will the country head toward division and secession by Sunnis and Kurdish areas? Such fears prompted Baghdad to launch a diplomatic offensive to build strategic relations with neighboring states to deter them from taking actions supportive of the inclination toward separation and division in the liberated areas.

In this regard, Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi met Jan. 9 in Baghdad with his Jordanian counterpart, Hani al-Mulki, and other members of a delegation that included Jordan's ministers of energy and mineral resources, media, finance, trade and supply, agriculture, industry and transport.

Jordanian government spokesman Mohammed Hussain al-Momani said in a press statement that the two sides would discuss “ways to resume work on joint projects that had been approved earlier, primarily the oil and gas pipeline project from Basra to the port of Aqaba.” The pipeline project is of great strategic significance, linking Jordanian interests to a unified Iraq and making the specter of partition something to avoid. The oil lies under the predominantly Shiite south but must be transported through predominantly Sunni Anbar province.