Saudi Arabia and Iraq Hail Continued Rapprochement

Saudi Arabia and Iraq on Wednesday made history with the reopening of the Arar border crossing between the neighboring nations, almost 30 years after its closure on the backdrop of the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait and the ensuing First Gulf War. In a special ceremony, Iraqi officials and the Saudi ambassador to Baghdad toured the facility and congratulated one another on the positive economic benefits the reopening would bring about. For the past few years, as part of its campaign to isolate a nuclearizing, belligerent Iran, Riyadh has attempted to woo Baghdad with generous financial perks and promises of burgeoning economic ties. In 2015, Saudi Arabia reopened its embassy in Iraq, also shuttered in 1990, and this past summer the two signed extensive energy investment agreements. Riyadh’s partner in battling Iranian aggression, the United States, announced Wednesday it was enforcing an array of new sanctions focused on Tehran’s human rights abuses, including blacklisting a foundation belonging to the Islamic Republic’s supreme leader himself, which Washington said was used to “enrich his office, reward his political allies, and persecute the regime’s enemies.”