Iraqi PM meets Saudi Crown Prince after Aramco attacks

Iraqi PM meets Saudi Crown Prince after Aramco attacks
Powerful Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has hosted Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdel Mahdi for talks, following an attack on Aramco facilities which halved Saudi oil output.
2 min read
26 September, 2019
Adel Abdel Mahdi met with Mohammed bin Salman in Jeddah [Getty]

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman hosted Iraq's Prime Minister Adel Abdel Mahdi for talks on Wednesday focused on attacks on the kingdom's oil infrastructure, which Washington has blamed on Iran.

"The meeting dealt with regional developments, particularly the sabotage attacks on Saudi Aramco plants in Abqaiq and Khurais, stressing Iraqi keenness on the security and stability of the kingdom," the official Saudi Press Agency reported.

The September 14 attacks on state oil giant Aramco, which initially halved the kingdom's crude output and sent global energy markets into a tailspin, have escalated regional tensions.

Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels claimed responsibility for the strikes, but the US says the attacks involved cruise missiles from Iran and amounted to "an act of war".

Baghdad, caught between its two main allies -- Tehran and Washington -- has denied any link to the attacks amid reports that the assault was launched from Iraq.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has also said there was no evidence the attacks were launched from Iraq.

Mahdi's expression of solidarity with Saudi Arabia comes amid a steady warming of ties between Baghdad and Riyadh after decades of strain.

Iraqi Oil Minister Thamer al-Ghadban separately held talks Wednesday with his Saudi counterpart Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, SPA reported.

Saudi Arabia severed relations and closed its border with its northern neighbour after late Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein's August 1990 invasion of Kuwait.

But a flurry of visits between the two countries in recent months has indicated a thawing of ties as Riyadh seeks to counter Iran's strong presence in Iraqi politics.