Iraqi Prime Minister Ali Al-Zaidi arrived in Syria just before noon on Wednesday. It is the first visit to Syria of a high-level Iraqi delegation since the fall of the Assad regime in 2024.
Iraqi state media reported on the visit but did not provide many details. Security and counterterrorism efforts were expected to be addressed during the talks.
The visit marks a potential major turning point for Iraq and Syria, which are historically linked.
The border between the countries is “completely” secure, Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa said on Tuesday. Recent tensions between Syria and Jordan over a Jordanian airstrike against ISIS in Syria, however, indicated that there could be issues. According to Syria, Jordan killed several civilians.
Sharaa is seeking to strengthen ties with Iraq, which highlights another important dimension of Damascus’s regional diplomacy.
Commerce between nations increases significantly
Syria and Iraq have a historic opportunity to develop economic cooperation, strengthen state institutions, and coordinate regional security, Sharaa said in an interview with Iraq’s Dijlah TV, Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA), Syria’s official news agency, reported Wednesday.
Syria’s role as a trade corridor for Iraq is important, he said, citing the connections between Iraq’s Faw Port and Syria’s Mediterranean Port of Tartous.
Sharaa also called for rebuilding oil pipelines connecting Iraq to Syria’s Baniyas Port. Iraqi oil has been flowing to Syria due to the crisis with Iran.
Sharaa said commercial traffic between the countries had increased significantly over the previous six or seven months, including more than 100,000 transit trucks and 40,000 import and export trucks, SANA reported.
He also addressed Iraq’s internal security challenges and expressed support for Zaidi’s efforts to combat corruption and bring armed groups under state authority, the report said.
Sharaa said the “decision of war and peace must remain in the hands of the state,” adding that competing military organizations undermine national institutions, SANA reported.
He “spoke of his experience in Iraq, explaining he went there in 2003 out of solidarity and duty to defend Iraqis and confront the American occupation, without organizational, political, military or security affiliations,” the report said. “He said he entered prison around 2005, did not participate in the sectarian conflicts Iraq witnessed, and returned to Syria in 2011 after his release.”
This is particularly interesting because Iraq considers the groups Sharaa worked with to be terrorists.
The developments involving Syria, Jordan, and Iraq showcase Damascus’s attempt to rebuild regional ties through trade and security cooperation. There are many challenges.
Helpful for Israel?
This matters for the wider region, including Israel. Iraq is home to Iranian-backed militias that threaten Israel. They used to also be in Syria before the fall of the Assad regime. As such, a secure Syria and Iraq, where militias cannot roam at will, helps Israel, Saudi Arabia, and Jordan.
Syria and Iraq share a history that stretches from the Ottoman Empire to the rise of modern Arab nationalism, the Ba’ath Party, and the conflicts that followed the US invasion of Iraq in 2003. Their long border has repeatedly served as a corridor for trade, insurgencies, and regional power struggles.
Both territories were part of the Ottoman Empire before its collapse during World War I. The Arab Revolt, led by Sharif Hussein of Mecca and his sons, helped lay the foundations for Hashemite ambitions in the region.
King Faisal briefly ruled an Arab kingdom in Damascus before becoming king of Iraq in 1921. His brother Abdullah established the Hashemite monarchy in Transjordan. The family of Abdullah continues to rule Jordan.
Syria and Iraq subsequently developed rival branches of the Ba’ath Party, which came to power in Damascus in 1963 and Baghdad in 1968. Although both regimes espoused Arab nationalism, their leaders became bitter rivals.
The Hashemite rule ended brutally in Iraq due to these changes in power. During the era of the Arab-Israeli wars from 1948-1973, both Iraq and Syria sent forces to fight Israel.
Sharaa's rise to power
After the US invasion of Iraq in 2003, insurgents crossed from Syria into Iraq, using routes through the Middle Euphrates River Valley (MERV), particularly around Al-Bukamal and Al-Qaim. These same routes later became central to ISIS, which expanded across eastern Syria and western Iraq in 2013-2014, erasing the practical significance of the border as it seized territory.
It seems that Sharaa was one of those who crossed into Iraq via this route. He was then detained in Iraq and sent to Camp Bucca after 2003.
The flow along the river valley subsequently reversed as Iraqi Shi’ite militias entered Syria to support the Assad regime. The crossing between Al-Qaim and Al-Bukamal became an important part of Iran’s network of regional supply routes. Militias moved into Al-Bukamal and moved weapons to Hezbollah.
That all changed when Assad’s regime fell, and Sharaa rose to power.
Today, reports of oil moving by truck through the Syrian desert near Al-Tanf illustrate the continuing importance of these corridors. The routes that once carried insurgents, ISIS fighters, and militias also connect economies and communities.
The geography of Syria and Iraq remains central to their security, commerce, and political future. In some ways, they are essentially one country, linked by the desert and the river.
Nevertheless, part of Iraq is heavily Shi’ite and looks to Iran for influence, while part of Syria – in the hill country from Damascus to Homs and Hama and Aleppo, looks toward the Mediterranean historically.