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Gulf Cooperation Council Secretary General Jasem Mohamed Albudaiwi received Iraqi Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Safia Taleb Al Souhail on June 21 2026 at the GCC headquarters in Riyadh. The two reviewed relations between the GCC and Iraq discussed topics of common interest and addressed the latest regional and international developments according to an announcement from the GCC General Secretariat.
The GCC General Secretariat reported that the meeting took place on a Sunday at its Riyadh headquarters. Both parties examined the current state of bilateral relations between the council and Iraq. The session also covered areas of mutual concern in the political and economic spheres the secretariat stated in its release. Officials used the opportunity to align views on pressing matters affecting the wider region.
A Congressional Research Service report published on June 3 2026 detailed how the U.S.-Israel-Iran conflict had led to attacks on GCC facilities across multiple states. The assessment found that nearly half of those attacks targeted the UAE with several incidents linked to proxy groups operating from Iraqi territory. It placed the number of non-U.S. national deaths at approximately 28 across the six GCC states as of May 2026 according to the report.
The Gulf Research Center’s March 2026 publication on the GCC Trade Sector Outlook placed the region’s goods trade at $1.6 trillion in 2024. This figure represented 3.4 percent of global trade with the bloc ranking sixth worldwide the center said. Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates led in total trade volume while Qatar and Kuwait recorded the highest export surpluses relative to their economies.
A European Parliament factsheet updated in March 2025 noted that GCC relations with Iraq have largely been defined by economic and trade ties that have grown steadily over the years. The document highlighted cooperation in areas such as energy and investment as central to bilateral engagement. Such ties form part of broader efforts to integrate neighboring economies into GCC frameworks according to the factsheet.
Iraq remains the only Arab state bordering the Persian Gulf that is not a GCC member according to an overview by the Gulf Research Center. Iraqi officials have periodically expressed interest in deeper association with the council including through enhanced trade channels. Border reopenings and commercial exchanges have marked recent progress in this direction as noted in regional analyses.
Jasem Mohamed Albudaiwi has served as GCC Secretary General since 2020 and regularly engages with diplomats on matters of collective security and cooperation. Safia Taleb Al Souhail has represented Iraq in high-level postings focusing on Gulf affairs throughout her career. Their June 21 discussion aligns with a series of similar diplomatic contacts aimed at sustaining dialogue between the bloc and Baghdad the GCC General Secretariat indicated.
