By: Kayhan Int’l Staff Writer

The recent official visit to Riyadh of Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Ebadi, the second such trip to Saudi Arabia in the space of a few months, has raised speculations on the goals behind the invitations to the head of a Shi’a-majority country by a Wahhabi regime, notorious for its hostility towards the followers of the Ahl al-Bayt of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA).
Moreover, the presence in Riyadh of US Secretary of State and the trilateral meeting between senior officials of the US, Saudi Arabia and Iraq with Rex Tillerson’s usual raving and ranting against the Islamic Republic of Iran, leaves no doubt about American designs in the region.
The question is: Will Washington’s latest plot, after the string of failures of US plots against Iran and the people of the region, succeed?
No, there is no chance of any success for the US this time again, as is evident by the slapping he received from both Iraq and Iran for his provocative statement that the Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF) are Iranian proxies and should either be disbanded or leave the country.
If the Iraqi Premier issued an official statement against US meddling in the internal affairs of Iraq and defended the PMU for their heroic role in protecting the country, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif saying Tillerson’s remarks are indicative of US failure in the region, rightly pointed out that if the popular forces, along with Iranian advisors, had not rallied to the defence of Syria, and Iraq, at the invitation of the governments and people of the two countries, today Damascus, Baghdad, and Erbil would have been overrun by the Takfiri terrorists.
Al-Ebadi who on Sunday took part at the first meeting of the joint Saudi-Iraqi Coordination Council seems to be well aware of the political situation of the region. He wants Riyadh to change its behaviour and participate in the construction of Iraq whose northern parts were devastated by the Saudi-supported Takfiri terrorists.
Iran’s Amir Abdollahian, who is International Affairs Advisor to Parliament speaker Ali Larijani, was quick to tweet: "If relations between Saudi Arabia and Iraq are normalized and Riyadh’s destructive and unconstructive behaviour is halted, it is a positive event.”
The Islamic Republic of Iran has always called for peace, stability and co-existence in the region, even with the Saudis, who have not hidden their deep animosity towards Iranians and Shi’a Muslims.
As a matter of fact, this animosity was clearly visible when Saudi Foreign Minister, the Zionist-looking Adel Jubeir, in his joint press conference with Secretary of State Rex Tillerson in Riyadh on Sunday, spewed poison once again against Iraq’s Popular Mobilisation Forces and against the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Tillerson and Jubeir want to deceive Iraq by insisting on an unnatural alliance with Saudi Arabia, which during the reign of terror of Saddam’s repressive Ba’th minority regime was a staunch ally of Baghdad against the people of Iraq.
Haider al-Ebadi and King Salman discussed a series of economic issues like investment in oil sector, re-opening the commercial air travel, opening consulates, and also completing a border crossing linking the two neighbours.
According to observers, one of the main reasons for the apparent change of attitude towards Baghdad is Saudi Arabia’s defeats in Iraq, Syria, and Yemen that make the terrorist-supporting Wahhabi regime take some tactical steps to get toehold in the target regional countries for the so-called objective of curbing the expansion of the Iranian sway in the region.
In view of the failure of its policy to undermine the Iran-led Resistance Front in the region despite multi-billion spending, Saudi Arabia has decided to renew its presence in Iraq to affect the country’s internal developments.
The new approach is meant to help Riyadh establish links to the various Iraqi groups and parties in a bid to allure the Iraqi officials into stronger relations with the kingdom. This is mainly viewed as part of the Saudi intention to build its own regional hegemony in which Iraq, as one of the closest and most important allies of Iran, holds a special place.
Saudi Arabia’s moving in line with the US to shore up influence in Iraq. The sway, once sought to penetrate to the Sunni groups, tribes, and political factions, now is intending to include also the Shi’a groups of Iraq. The new Riyadh attitude tries to establish relations with such Shi’a factions as the Sadrist Movement, the secular parties led by Ayad Allawi, and even other groups close to Iran like Islamic Dawa Party.
Both Saudi Arabia and the US intend to bolster their foothold in Iraq through fine-tuning their approach and developing partnership with Baghdad. However, being the main culprits of the massive Iraqi human losses and infrastructure devastation for over a decade, Saudi Arabia and the US cannot easily paint themselves as friends of the Iraqi people.