I wish the rumor about a visit by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to Iraq was true. The mere suggestion pushed Iran’s supporters to rally and oppose the alleged visit, which shows its importance and reflects Tehran’s fears of the independence of Iraqi decision-makers. It would have been the first visit by a Saudi at the leadership level since the Arab Summit in 1990, which was held in Baghdad just before the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. It would be good to see senior Saudi officials, and other regional leaders, breathe life and regional political activity into the heart of this historic city. The world must see that Baghdad is the capital of Iraq, not Tehran, and that Haider Abadi is the prime minister and executive head of the state, not Iran’s Gen. Qasem Soleimani, who militia leaders scramble to please. A visit by the Saudi leadership, in response to an invitation from Abadi who is in cordial contact with Riyadh, would be a requirement for formal relations between the countries. Abadi is trying hard to get Iraq out of the pit of conflict the current regime inherited from the Saddam Hussein era, the American occupation, and the reign of former Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki, who had a difficult balancing act. He managed to hold a small Arab Summit in 2012 but it could not support Iraq politically. Abadi wants to protect Iraq from international and regional conflicts and rid his country of Sunni and Shiite extremists. Freeing it from the cycle of conflict would mean stability for Iraq in a way not widely seen since Saddam’s invasion of Kuwait. Iraq’s transition to a stable and prosperous country similar to its Gulf neighbors requires a cohesive and strong leadership in Baghdad, focused on freeing Iraq’s decision making and powers from external interference, sectarian fragmentation and faction leaderships that do not respect the decisions of the central authorities. Al-Maliki had a strong personality and during his rule he battled various factions, rejecting the political and geographical division in the south, the west and the north. He fought military wars against insurgencies but fell short of the challenge because he sought to rule permanently at any political price, which required costly external and internal alliances. Saudi Arabia can help the central authorities in Baghdad be more independent, and provide a geopolitical balance, especially since Riyadh has no hostile motives and no border dispute or natural-resources issues with its neighbor. Saudi-Iraqi rapprochement began with the ascension of Abadi to the premiership and slowly improved from there, with Riyadh changing its view of relations from mere diplomatic exchange to joint action. The protests that followed the mere rumor that Mohammed bin Salman is planning to visit Baghdad are a good indicator of how rattled the Iranians are about the prospect of the Iraqis freeing themselves from Tehran’s influence. Abdulrahman Al-Rashed It is clear that the Iranian regime is behind the protests against the idea of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman visiting Iraq, and that it pushed its armed groups to warn the Iraqi government against any rapprochement. This is clear evidence of the Tehran regime’s fear of Iraq’s independence. In Baghdad, government and state leaders, both legislative and executive, are responsible for protecting their country from interference by Iran — or even by Saudi Arabia, Turkey or other regional powers, for that matter. The restoration of Iraq as an independent state making decisions that serve its own best interests is in the interest of the entire region. Conversely, Iraq’s subjugation to Iran’s influence threatens not only the people of Iraq, but other countries in the region. The clerical regime in Tehran treats Iraq as a corridor; an extension and a source for funding its wars and supplying men. Thousands of Iraqi youths and others are fighting in Syria under the banner of Soleimani. The general dominates Iran’s western regions, including Iraq and Syria, which has caused chaos in Iraq and the wider region. Tehran’s approach to Iraq is to support a variety of groups, with the aim of preventing the establishment of a free Iraqi state with proper presidential, parliamentary, executive, military and security institutions. It is the same model Iran is trying to use in Yemen, through the abolition of the central government in Sanaa and the creation of militias operating in parallel to the army — just as they did in Lebanon and the occupied Palestinian territories, and seek to do in Syria. Does Saudi Arabia have an interest in a stable and independent Iraq? Most certainly. It is in the interest of people in all countries in the region — the Iraqis first and foremost. • Abdulrahman Al-Rashed is a veteran columnist. He is the former general manager of Al Arabiya news channel, and former editor-in-chief of Asharq Al-Awsat.