Warmer Jordanian-Iraqi relations

Jordanian-Iraqi relations got a strong boost on Saturday, when Prime Minister Omar Razzaz and his Iraqi counterpart Adel Abdul Mahdi and their respective high-level accompanying delegations convened a historic meeting along the border of the two countries.

The meetings culminated in the signing of a series of economic and trade accords that translated much of what the two countries had agreed upon in principle earlier on. The newly signed agreements included supplying Jordan daily with 10,000 barrels of Iraqi oil, exempting a long list of Jordanian exports to Iraq from customs duties and granting Iraqi imports through the Port of Aqaba discounted port rates up to 75 per cent of the usual charges.

The two sides also discussed in greater details and in a more concrete terms the oil pipeline project linking Basra with Aqaba.

Even more important than these and other  previous agreements is the brotherly spirit with which the two sides pursued their talks. The two sides had assembled big number delegations to make sure that this time, the accords are not left too vague or too broad for the purposes of implementation.

Accordingly, Jordanian-Iraqi relations have now taken a new direction that can be best characterised as friendly, cooperative and durable. A lot more can be expected to be agreed upon and implemented between the two countries in due course to foster lasting and strong bilateral relations between the two neighbouring Arab countries.

This is a big success story for both Jordan and Iraq. Prime Minister Razzaz did his best to build on previous bilateral talks, especially the ones conducted between His Majesty King Abdullah and Iraqi President Barham Saleh and the Iraqi prime minister.

Jordan's economy development can now breathe a sigh of relief, having secured an open border for Jordanian exports and assured access to Iraqi oil.