Syria and Iraq announced yesterday the formation of a new business council. 

Syria’s Ministry of Economy and Foreign Trade said the council aims to improve relations between the two states and their private sectors in the trade, investment, industry, agriculture and tourism fields. The council will also work to boost Syrian exports to Iraq, Syria’s official SANA news outlet reported. 

Why it matters: Syria and Iraq have a complicated history. Saddam Hussein adhered to the same Arab nationalist Baathist ideology espoused by the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his father, former President Hafez al-Assad. Despite this, the two countries did not have good relations for the most part during Hussein’s rule. 

Syria-Iraq relations were good in the 1970s until Syria accepted the cease-fire that ended the 1973 war between Arab states and Israel. In the late 1970s, the two countries discussed unification, but talks broke down and poor relations resumed. Syria joined the US-led alliance that fought to expel Hussein’s Iraqi forces from Kuwait in 1991. In the late 1990s, relations warmed again, according to analyst Paul Iddon.