Kuwaiti emir starts official visit to Iraq

By Amir al-Hassani

BAGHDAD (AA) – Kuwaiti emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Jaber al-Sabah arrived in Baghdad on Wednesday on an official visit for talks with Iraqi officials.

The Kuwaiti leader was welcomed by Iraqi President Barham Salih at the Baghdad International Airport, the Iraqi Presidency said in a brief statement.

The visit is the second by the ruler of the Gulf state to Iraq since the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in 1990.

It comes amid rising tension between Iran and the U.S. since last year, when Washington unilaterally withdrew from the 2015 nuclear deal between Tehran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany.

The official KUNA news agency said the visit "comes as part of efforts to get the two states closer and settle unresolved problems" between Kuwait and Iraq.

Sheikh Sabah is expected to hold talks with Iraqi officials on a host of regional issues, including tension between Iran and the U.S., according to local Iraqi media.

Last month, the Iraqi premier visited Kuwait on a visit described by Abdul-Mahdi as part of Iraq's “zero problems” policy in regards to Kuwait.

The Kuwaiti ruler, for his part, said Kuwait and Iraq had been “victims of a regime that hurt the people of both countries” -- a reference to Iraq’s Saddam Hussein regime.