Iraq hosts meeting amid area tensions
BAGHDAD – Arab heads of state and senior officials from the region including archenemies Iran and Saudi Arabia met Saturday at a conference hosted by Iraq. The meeting is aimed at easing Mideast tensions and emphasizing the Arab country’s new role as mediator.
French President Emmanuel Macron was also attending the Baghdad meeting, hailed as a boost for Iraq and its leadership. The country had been shunned by Arab leaders for the past few decades because of security concerns amid back-to-back wars and internal unrest, its airport frequently attacked with rockets by insurgents.
On Saturday, Iraqi leaders were on hand at Baghdad International Airport to receive the red carpet arrivals. They included Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-sissi, Jordan’s King Abdullah and Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani. It was the first official visit to Iraq by the Qatari emir, whose country’s ties with Saudi Arabia are also fraught with tensions. Relations have improved recently since a declaration was signed with the kingdom and other Arab Gulf states to ease a yearslong rift.
Among the participants were also the foreign ministers of Iran and Saudi Arabia, whose rivalry over regional supremacy has often played out to deadly consequences in Iraq and other countries across the region, including Yemen and Lebanon.
The high-level meeting sent a message of Arab solidarity with Iraq, which has increasingly been pulled into Iran’s orbit in recent years.
“This summit marks the return of Iraq as a pivotal player in the region,” said political analyst Ihsan al-shammari, who heads the Iraqi Political Thinking Center in Baghdad. “Having rival parties be seated at the same table is a significant step in that direction.”
Lebanon, which has been without a functional government for the past year, and Syria, which has been suspended from the Arab League since 2011, were not represented at the meeting.
Sunday’s meeting was a chance for Iraqi leaders to underscore their efforts to portray Iraq as a neutral mediator in the region’s crises and re-engage with the world after decades of conflict.