ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa on Monday received Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani’s Special Envoy to Syria Izzat Shabandar in Damascus.

The Syrian president received Shabandar at the Presidential Palace in Damascus, according to a post by Sharaa’s office. Details of the meeting, however, are yet to be made public at the time of writing this report.

The Iraqi government, closely aligned with Iran, was a staunch supporter of the Bashar al-Assad’s regime and has remained hesitant in establishing ties with the new authorities in Syria.

Sharaa skipped the 34th Arab Summit held in Baghdad in May despite an invitation by the Iraqi government that caused a stir among Iraqi politicians. 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.

Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani headed the Syrian delegation at the summit. The Syrian top diplomat also visited Baghdad in March, marking the first visit of a top official from the new Damascus administration to the neighboring country.

Sudani congratulated the Syrian people in early April on the formation of the country’s new cabinet, expressing his best wishes in a phone call with Sharaa, and reiterating Baghdad’s support for the sovereignty and unity of Syria.

Sudani and Sharaa met for the first time in Doha in mid-April.