An Iranian senior expert on West Asia affairs stressed that Iran welcomes Iraq's return as a (political) player in the region.
In an interview with the "Rouydad" program, Seyyed Reza Sadr al-Husseini mentioned the holding of a conference in Baghdad and the participation of regional countries, including Egypt, Jordan, Iran, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait; “Some permanent members of the Security Council, including France, will also be present at this conference.”
He stated that the conference focuses on supporting Iraq; “With five main axes, a one-day conference will be held and various issues will be thereupon discussed.”
Sadr al-Husseini called regional security and economic cooperation among the most important topics which are to be discussed at the conference; “Iraqis were especially interested in the presence of the Islamic Republic of Iran’s Foreign Minister in this meeting. Regarding the conference significance and Iran’s interest in Iraq’s return to the regional arena, our foreign ministry expressed positive opinion for attending the summit.”
The West Asia expert then pointed out Syria’s absence in this meeting in his interview with Radio Goftogoo; “One of the issues that will be discussed at this meeting is the return of Syria to the Arab world. Measures have also been taken by the Arabs over the past year and a half.”
Sadr al-Husseini continued; “Syria had not yet responsed distinctively to this issue. Therefore, a delegation went to Syria and raised the issue with Bashar al-Assad, and the Syrian president announced that all those who expelled us from the Arab community should separately invite us.”
He also noted that Bashar al-Assad's condition for attending the Baghdad meeting and other summits was to attend the Arab leaders summit; “Iraq treated the issue with full respect, but Syria isn’t interested in participating in some meetings separately, thus the Syrian authorities expressed strict and correct expectation and announced that this country will not participate in the summit.”
Sadr al-Husseini also referred to the effects and consequences of this conference; “Considering Iran's view on improving Iraq's position in the region, the Islamic Republic accepted to attend this meeting with a positive view. This is expected to be a start for Iraq in playing a new and significant role in the region.”
He added: "The media spoke about the mediation of Iraq between Iran and Saudi Arabia, but given Iran's view on the regional issues and the absence of foreign countries, this summit should be looked on optimistically.”
By Azadeh Khajeh Nasiri
