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ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iran believes that inviting Syria to attend the Baghdad regional summit was “necessary,” Iran’s Minister of Foreign Affairs said early Saturday morning before leaving Tehran to attend the event.
“Iran believes that it was necessary to invite Syria as an important neighbor for Iraq to attend Baghdad summit,” the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, told reporters before departing for Baghdad.
“We will consult with Damascus over the Baghdad summit and the role of regional countries in any regional initiatives,” he added.
Syrian state media reported earlier this month that the chairman of Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces, (PMF) Falih al-Fayyadh delivered a message to Bashar al-Assad on behalf of the Iraqi prime minister regarding the summit, but the Iraqi foreign ministry denied extending an invitation to the Syrian president.
“Syria is not a healthy state nor does it have control of its borders… it’s a state that has a lot of problems with the states that are participating, but they are important, their participation is much more important than Syria,” the head of the Iraqi parliament’s foreign relations committee, MP Muthana Amin told Rudaw on Friday.
“The participation of Syria will damage the conference, not be the reason for its success,” he added.
After years of conflict and foreign influence within its borders, Iraq is hoping the summit - held with France - will bolster its standing as a regional mediator, as well as creating economic and social ties.
French President Emmanuel Macron arrived in Baghdad early on Saturday. The leaders of Iran, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Kuwait, Jordan, Qatar, Egypt, and the United Arab Emirates have been invited.
The regional conference is a “very important event for Iraq and the whole region,” Homayoun Falakshahi, a senior commodity analyst at Kpler, told Rudaw.
“It could be the first conference to gather important heads of states,” Falakshahi added.
The United States on Friday reaffirmed its support for the summit, describing it as “evidence of the effectiveness of the Iraqi diplomatic work,” state media said.
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