FM to Visit Jordan to Attend Regional Meeting

Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian is set to leave Tehran for the Jordanian capital Amman to attend a regional meeting on Iraq. 
The event will be the second edition of the conference which was held in August 2021 in Baghdad.
The new round was expected to be held earlier but is thought to have been delayed due to Iraq’s failure to form a government in time. 
Iran, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and several other Arab states, as well as France, will participate like the previous round, according to ISNA. 
Amir-Abdollahian led Iran’s delegation also at last year’s conference in Baghdad which was dubbed cooperation and partnership.
He expressed regret at the time that Syria, as an important regional player, had not been invited and travelled to Damascus immediately to brief Syrian officials about the dialogue in Baghdad. 
Nevertheless, the Arab country is apparently left out once again. 
The Iranian government’s news agency, IRNA, highlighted international media’s emphasis on Iran’s presence in such events as a sign of the Islamic Republic’s importance as a heavyweight in the region. 
“This indicates that, contrary to western countries’ efforts to isolate Iran at the international and regional arena, Tehran is an inevitable player whose presence is essential for advancing regional and international processes,” the article said, adding that efforts to isolate Iran are unrealistic and doomed to fail. 
The conference is important for Iran as well, given the current administration’s foreign policy priority which involves boosting relations with regional and neighboring countries.
“Attending this conference shows Tehran’s will to further this policy toward promoting regional peace and stability,” the IRNA article said. 

More Inclusive 

Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein had said earlier this year that great challenges face his country, including those related to food security, drug security and energy security, which require global aid to be tackled. 
“Because these are challenges that go beyond our borders, we need regional and international cooperation to help us face these challenges,” he said. 
He mentioned the “many interventions” taking place in Iraq, adding that Baghdad is in continuous dialogue with these countries to solve the problems.
“We have obligations … not to allow any organization to use Iraqi territory to attack neighboring countries. But at the same time, we cannot accept any attack on Iraqi territory by neighboring countries,” he said. 
Iran has been attacking the positions of terrorist groups in the Iraqi Kurdistan lately, accusing them of armed action against the country. 
In recent dialogue between the two countries’ top officials, Baghdad has vowed to ensure security at its borders. 
Despite centering on Iraq, the Amman conference is believed to be more inclusive and cover other regional issues. 
A widespread media speculation about this round concerns the possibility of a meeting between Iranian and Saudi officials.
Tehran and Riyadh severed ties in 2016 after a group of Iranians stormed the Saudi missions in response to the kingdom’s execution of a Shia cleric. 
The two have shown signs of interest in reconciliation, as a result of which several rounds of talks were held between Iranian and Saudi officials with Iraqi mediation in Baghdad. 
Based on information acquired by IRNA, no plan for a meeting on the sidelines of the conference in Amman has been arranged so far, but such talks remain a possibility.