AMMAN, Jordan (AP) – Jordan’s Foreign Minister Salaheddine al-Bashir says the kingdom’s envoy to Iraq has assumed his duties in Baghdad amid security improvement in the war-torn country.

Jordan named an ambassador to Iraq in July, signaling improved ties.

According to the foreign minister, whose remarks were carried Friday in Jordanian papers, Ambassador Nayef Zeidan presented his credentials to Iraqi President Jalal Talabani on Thursday.

Jordan’s King Abdullah II visited Baghdad in August, the first visit by an Arab leader since the U.S.-led war on Iraq in 2003.

Jordan is home for more than 450,000 Iraqi expatriates who fled their country’s sectarian violence.