ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq - Iraq has officially invited Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa to Baghdad, the country’s minister of culture and tourism said on Sunday.

Speaking to Iraqi state media, Ahmed Fakak al-Badrani said that he had delivered an official invitation to Sharaa to attend the Arab Summit in Baghdad next month.

“Based on an assignment from President Abdul Latif Jamal Rashid, we delivered an invitation to Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa to attend the Arab Summit on the 17th of next month in Baghdad,” he said.

Sharaa has not yet confirmed his plans to attend the summit.

Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani earlier this month conducted a surprise visit to Doha, during which he met Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa for the first time.

Sudani earlier in April held a phone call with Sharaa, during which he congratulated the Syrian president on the formation of the country’s new cabinet, reiterated Iraq’s “steadfast” position in supporting “the choices of the brotherly Syrian people,” and stressed the importance of an inclusive political process.

A top Iraqi government delegation, led by Hamid al-Shatri, head of the National Intelligence Service, arrived in Damascus on Friday to meet with Sharaa and a number of government officials to discuss a set of key topics, including strengthening bilateral ties in the fields of security and trade.

A rebel offensive in early December of last year, spearheaded by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), saw the ouster of Bashar al-Assad, ending the Assad family's five-decade-long rule and shifting the political scene in Syria and the Middle East.

A new interim government was formed in late January that resulted in former HTS leader Sharaa being declared president to oversee the affairs of the transitional government.

The Iraqi government, closely aligned with Iran, supported Assad’s regime.

Several prominent Iraqi political and civil voices have time and again rejected the establishment of any relations with Sharaa’s Syria, given a rather bloody history the former Al-Qaeda jihadist has in Iraq.