al-Jubeir's surprise trip on Saturday marked the first official visit by a Saudi foreign minister since 1990, and the first high-level visit since the 2003 US-led invasion.

"It's the hope of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to build excellent relations between the two brotherly countries," said Jubeir. "There are also many shared interests, from fighting extremism and terrorism [to] opportunities for investment and trade between the two countries." 

Jubeir, who met his Iraqi counterpart Ibrahim al-Jaafari and Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, also announced Saudi plans to appoint a new ambassador to Iraq. An Iraqi foreign ministry official said the kingdom supported the resumption of direct flights between the two countries. Abadi, who has been in power since 2014, has supported efforts to improve strained ties, but the road to normalization has been rocky.

The visit follows a recent diplomatic spat between the two nations, when Thamer al-Sabhan, Saudi Arabia's previous ambassador to Iraq, was removed in August.  Sabhan's comments about Iran's involvement in Iraqi affairs and the alleged persecution of Sunni Muslims had angered Iraq's local Shia politicians and militia leaders. Sabhan had also called on Iraq to exclude Shia paramilitary groups from its military campaign against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS), in order to avoid abuses against Sunnis in the country.