in 1996, iraqi kurdish rebel leader jalal talabani and king hussein of jordan met to press for the iraqi opposition to unite. at the inauguration of the jordanian consulate general, jordanian prime minister marouf bakhit visited kurdistan region with a delegation including minister of agriculture samir habashneh, minister of trade and industry hani mulki and minister of energy and natural resources khaled toukan and four other ministers. during the visit, seven memoranda of understandings were signed between the two parties. jordanian king abdullah ii of jordan and kurdish president masoud barzani has met on five occasions; march 2007, in may 2014, in may 2015, in february 2016 and in may 2017. kurdish prime minister nechirvan barzani also met with the king in january 2018 during the world economic forum in davos and relations were described as 'excellent'. in january 2019, masoud barzani visited jordan and met with king abdullah for regional talks.