An Iraqi delegation met with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa in Damascus on Friday to discuss reviving an Iraqi oil pipeline running through Syria to Mediterranean ports, according to Iraq’s state news agency.
The delegation, headed by the chief of the Iraqi National Intelligence Service, also spoke with Sharaa about “counter-terrorism cooperation, border security, and ways to expand bilateral trade,” the agency reported.
This high-level meeting follows a recent encounter between Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shiaa al-Sudani and President al-Sharaa in Qatar—their first talks since the ousting of Syria’s longtime leader, Bashar al-Assad, last December, after more than 13 years of brutal civil conflict.
Syria, now facing a deepening energy crisis after the collapse of its oil industry during the war, has been scrambling to secure oil imports through local intermediaries. “Attempts to secure oil through public tenders have largely failed due to international sanctions and financial risks,” officials noted.
Previously, Syria relied heavily on Iranian oil to power its infrastructure. However, those shipments stopped after the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham led the revolt that removed Assad, severing Damascus’s ties to Tehran.
The Syrian economy remains in ruins after nearly 14 years of warfare, worsened by harsh U.S., British, and European sanctions imposed in an effort to pressure Assad’s regime.
Earlier in March, Syria’s Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shibani visited Baghdad—the first such trip since Assad’s fall—where he urged Iraq to reopen its border with Syria, closed for years following the revolt. “Reopening the border is essential to boosting trade and economic recovery,” al-Shibani said.
Iraq had sealed the frontier on security grounds during the Islamic State insurgency, when militants seized territory on both sides between 2014 and 2017.
Shibani emphasized that “Syria is ready to cooperate with Baghdad in combating Islamic State,” stressing that “Syria’s security is integral to Iraq’s security.”
Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein echoed the need for “greater international coordination” in the fight against remnants of Islamic State.
