Kuwaiti emir to visit Iraq on Wednesday

KUWAIT

Kuwaiti emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmed al-Jaber al-Sabah will visit Iraq on Wednesday, the official KUNA news agency said. .

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

It also 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.

KUNA said Wednesday's 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 President Barham Salih, Prime Minister Adil Abdul-Mahdi and Parliament Speaker Mohammed al-Halbousi, according to local 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.