After 20 years, Saudi Arabia has resumed soft power engagement in Iraq. In early June, Saudi Arabia signed an agreement with the Iraqi government to provide critically needed medical assistance and support to Iraqis across the country. In a highly publicized event, through the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center, Saudi Ambassador to Iraq Abdulaziz Al-Shammari announced the start of the campaign. Along with providing medical supplies, Saudi Arabia will also send highly qualified and experienced doctors, including neurosurgeons, cardiologists, podiatrists, and optometrists, as well as nurses.
The last major Saudi health care initiative was in 2003, in the wake of the U.S.-led invasion and breakdown of the Iraqi state apparatus. In coordination with the United States, Riyadh sent a humanitarian convoy that included a mobile field hospital connected to the Saudi Ministry of Defense. The convoy crossed the Arar border crossing on April 22, 2003, guarded by a battalion of 210 Saudi armed forces, and set up at the site of the Iraqi Red Crescent Hospital in Baghdad. However, the hospital was short lived amid increasing sectarian tensions. It was shut down at the request of the Iraqi Ministry of Health, and the Saudi troops and humanitarian workers departed Iraq in December 2003, leaving amid tensions that defined Baghdad-Riyadh ties for years to come.
Any early prospect for improved ties between the two countries was crushed by the emergence of the Sunni insurgency in Iraq. Baghdad leveled charges that Riyadh was sponsoring the insurgency and accused the Saudis of siding with the Iraqi Sunnis against the country’s newly installed Shia leadership. These perceptions prompted a festering negative public opinion of Saudi Arabia among Iraq’s Shia population and leaders.
Since then, relations have improved over time, as Iraqi leaders have periodically visited Riyadh and Saudi leaders have come to understand the importance of trying to reintegrate Iraq into the Gulf Arab states. In parallel, there have been some Saudi humanitarian efforts in different areas of Iraq. Riyadh has been an active provider of aid to people who have been displaced by conflict in the Kurdistan region and Nineveh province. However, the new bold and public campaign announced by the Saudi ambassador appears to be the first of its kind on the national level, reaching seven Iraqi provinces and crossing ethnosectarian and geographical lines in Iraq.
The campaign could be significant for Iraq, as its health-care provision ranks among the worst in the world. Saudi medical assistance could lessen the suffering of the Iraqi people, especially those who require emergency medical care. A component of the Saudi medical campaign also includes an evaluation of the hospital and health-care system in Iraq, which could help identify deficiencies in the system. This could improve the development of Iraq’s health-care system and aid in knowledge transfer, training, and capacity building for health-care professionals to give them the skills and expertise needed to deliver high-quality health-care services in Iraq.
This comprehensive medical assistance campaign points to a broader uptick in bilateral relations. Much of the recent improvement can be attributed to the persistent efforts of the Saudi-Iraqi Coordination Council, which was founded in 2017. During the launch of the medical campaign, Shammari highlighted the important work of the council, saying both countries are “reaping the fruit of the beautiful and wonderful relations between Iraq and Saudi Arabia through the Iraqi-Saudi Coordination Council, and we are reaping the fruit of the successes under the guidance of the leadership of the two countries.”
The council, comprised of seven technical, specialized committees aimed at developing Baghdad-Riyadh relations, has held multiple rounds of talks to tap into areas of cooperation. In its most recent meeting in Jeddah May 25, the council announced a comprehensive action plan for collaboration on energy, trade, banking, electricity interconnection, education, and health care. A number of investment projects have stemmed from the council’s discussions, including a contract by Saudi Arabia to construct a $1 billion mall close to the airport in Baghdad. The mall, “Baghdad Avenue,” will include restaurants, coffee shops, commercial offices, and residential apartments and villas. Additionally, Iraq invited Saudi Aramco to invest in and develop the Akkas Gas field in Anbar province, which could produce 400 million cubic feet of gas per day. If the project comes on line, it could help Iraq reduce its dependency on Iranian gas imports and address chronic electricity blackouts in the country. Aramco has also signed an initial agreement with Baghdad to invest in the development of petrochemical plants in Iraq.
Also, on the sidelines of the recent Iraqi-Saudi Coordination Council talks, Iraqi Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research Naeem Al-Aboudi and Saudi Minister of Education Youssef Al-Bunyan met to promote collaboration through a project pairing up four Iraqi universities with Saudi universities to conduct training programs, fund scholarships, and host an exchange program for a hundred Iraqi students to study in Saudi universities annually. This could help promote dialogue between Saudis and Iraqis while helping Iraqis to acquire skills across various disciplines and gain expertise from Saudi professors and scientists.
The medical campaign and educational exchange programs can complement each other in strengthening cultural connections between Saudi Arabia and Iraq, and they can be built upon to enhance diplomatic relations. Saudi Arabia’s provision of medical aid to Iraq is seemingly a component of a broader soft power initiative designed to generate goodwill and trust among the Iraqi public. And cultivating a more positive reputation is likely to help Saudi Arabia as the kingdom looks to expand further into Iraq’s energy, investment, and banking sectors.
