Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi received an invitation from King Salman to visit Saudi Arabia, as relations between the two nations improve, the premier’s office said.

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi received an invitation from King Salman to visit Saudi Arabia, as relations between the two nations improve, the premier's office said.

The invitation came during a phone call with the king in which Abadi sought to emphasize the cross-sectarian nature of Baghdad's battle against the Takfiri group, ISIL.

Victories over ISIL "were realized with the cooperation of all the sons of the Iraqi people and by volunteers from the sons of the areas," Abadi told Salman, according to a statement released Sunday night.

Abadi also said that there is a strategy to hand over Sunni Arab-majority areas retaken from ISIL to the local police.

Ties between Baghdad and Riyadh have become steadily better since Abadi took office last year after reaching a low ebb under his predecessor Nuri al-Maliki, who accused Saudi Arabia of backing militants in Iraq.

Iraqi President Fuad Masum visited Saudi, and Riyadh announced in January that it would reopen an embassy in Iraq for the first time in more than two decades.