Iran in crosshairs at Poland conference
WARSAW, Poland — Although it is absent from the stage, Iran is nevertheless taking the spotlight at a Middle East security conference co-hosted by the United States and Poland that has highlighted deep divisions between the U.S. and some of its traditional allies.
Amid uncertainty over its aims and questions about what it will deliver, the conference opened late Wednesday in Warsaw with some 60 nations in attendance. Yet, in an apparent test of U.S. influence and suspicions in Europe and elsewhere over the Trump administration’s intentions in Iran, many countries aren’t sending their top diplomats and are represented at levels lower than their invited foreign ministers.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. Vice President Mike Pence attended along with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and his counterparts from numerous Arab nations. Russia and China aren’t participating, and the Palestinians, who had called for the meeting to be boycotted, also are absent. Iran denounced the meeting as a “circus” aimed at “demonizing” it.
In a bid to encourage better participation, Pompeo and others sought to broaden what was initially advertised as an Iran-centric meeting to include the Israeli-palestinian conflict, the fight against the Islamic State group and the conflicts in Syria and Yemen. But comments from several participants belied the underlying theme: countering Iran.
On his way to Warsaw, Netanyahu made that clear.
“It is a conference that unites the United States, Israel, many countries in the world, many countries in the region, Arab countries, against Iran’s aggressive policy, its aggression, its desire to conquer the Middle East and destroy Israel,” he told reporters.
Netanyahu sent out a belligerent rallying cry to his Arab partners, saying he planned to focus on the “common interest” of confronting Iran. He made the comments during an off-the-cuff interview with reporters on a Warsaw street, shortly after meeting Oman’s foreign minister.
Although Netanyahu used the Hebrew word “milchama,” or “war,” in his comments, his office later changed its official translation and said he was referring to a “common interest of combatting Iran.”
Pompeo has predicted that the conference will “deliver really good outcomes” and has played down the impact of lower-level participation. “We think we will make real progress,” Pompeo said. He didn’t, however, offer any details about specific outcomes.
Pence will address the conference on a range of Middle East issues, Pompeo will talk about U.S. plans in Syria following President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw U.S. troops and Trump’s senior adviser and son-in-law Jared Kushner and his peace partner, Jason Greenblatt, will speak about their as-yet unveiled Israelipalestinian peace plan.