Despite all speculations and expectations, the visiting Iraqi premier and Iranian president did not announce any news about talks between Tehran and Riyadh on Sunday. 

Mustafa al-Kadhimi, who arrived in Iran after a visit to Saudi Arabia, attended a joint press conference with President Ebrahim Raisi, where they spoke about regional developments and bolstering political and economic relations between Tehran and Baghdad.

Highlighting the importance of relations between Iran and Iraq and the role played by the two countries in developments across the region, Raisi said, “We believe that dialog among regional countries can solve regional problems, [but] the presence of foreigners in the region only creates more problems and does not help solve those problems.”

Criticizing a number of regional Arab countries’ normalization of relations with Israel, Raisi said, “The efforts made by the Zionist regime to normalize relations with regional countries will by no means bring security to this regime.”

Raisi said both Iran and Iraq support establishing a durable ceasefire in Yemen, lifting the economic blockade, and facilitating intra-Yemeni talks as the solutions to the current crisis in the impoverished country. 

Kadhimi, for his part, said he discussed issues related to the security of the two neighboring countries and the stability of the region with Raisi, adding that Baghdad attaches great importance to its relations with Tehran on the basis of common interests.