Ex-Iraqi PM Recalls Gen. Soleimani’s Role in Iran-Saudi Détente

In an interview with Tasnim on the occasion of the fourth anniversary of the martyrdom of General Soleimani, Abdul Mahdi highlighted the late commander’s contribution to the thaw in relations between Tehran and Riyadh.

The former Iraqi prime minister said when he was in Beijing in September 2019, General Soleimani called him and asked him to travel to Saudi Arabia in an effort to mend ties between Tehran and Riyadh.

Diplomatic relations between Iran and Saudi Arabia had soured following the January 2016 execution of Shiite cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr, an outspoken critic of the kingdom, in Saudi Arabia. Riyadh cut ties with Tehran afterward, responding to attacks by angry protesters on its embassy in Tehran.

Abdul Mahdi said General Soleimani already knew about his intention to mediate between Iran and Saudi Arabia.

“After returning to Baghdad (from Beijing), I called the Saudi officials and informed them about my intention to travel to Riyadh. They asked me what the purpose of the visit was. I replied, ‘Mediation between you and the Islamic Republic of Iran’. They then asked, ‘Who are we going to engage with?’. I said Soleimani. They said, ‘Alright. Come here!’,” the former Iraqi premier said.

Abdul Mahdi narrated what happened next, when he held a meeting with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud, talked about the need to avoid clashes with Iran, stressed the need to open channels for negotiations between Tehran and Riyadh, and received a letter from Saudis with a “stiff and disappointing” tone.

General Soleimani had stated that Iran would not accept such a letter after reading its contents, Abdul Mahdi said, noting that he himself drafted a new letter with a more diplomatic and formal language and proposed that Saudis should send the revised letter to Iran.

“We informed General Soleimani that we have sent Saudis the edited letter and are waiting to receive the revised letter. In response to our letter, the Saudis made good revisions that were much better than the initial letter in practice and had been written with a conventional language between two countries that were pushing for a future different from the conditions that prevailed at that time,” he noted.

Abdul Mahdi said General Soleimani agreed to respond to that Saudi letter.

“When General Soleimani visited Baghdad once again, I asked him (about Iran’s response to the Saudi letter). In the last meeting, when we were saying goodbye, he said, ‘I will bring the response with me during the next trip to Baghdad’,” he stated.

The former Iraqi premier stressed that General Soleimani was conveying Iran’s response to Saudi Arabia as he visited Baghdad for the last time on January 3, 2020,  when he was martyred in a US strike near the airport.

The process initiated by General Soleimani prepared the ground for further negotiations between Iran and Saudi Arabia that led to several subsequent meetings in Iraq, Oman and China before the conclusion of the rapprochement in March 2023, Abdul Mahdi said.