Iraq Eyes New Regional Role and Looks for Help to Rebuild

(Bloomberg) --

Iraq’s regional allies stressed Saturday the need to provide support to an OPEC member struggling to rebuild after decades of ruinous war, in a conference that also afforded a platform for meetings between longtime rivals.

French President Emmanuel Macron, and his Egyptian counterpart attended the event, along with leaders and top diplomats from the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Jordan. They were also joined by Turkey’s foreign minister Mevlut Cavusoglu as well as Iran’s newly confirmed foreign minister, Hossein Amirabdollahian.

All voiced support for efforts to ensure security and stability in Iraq, which has, over the past years, served as a venue for regional power struggles as well as a safe haven for Islamist extremists. 

That suggested the focus on regional cooperation was as much on keeping those conflicts out of the oil-rich nation as it was about paving the way for bringing opposing sides to the same table. 

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Those efforts would be of benefit to all. Iraq, which is predominately Shiite, had been largely on the periphery in the predominantly Sunni Muslim Arab world. That opened the door for greater influence by Iran, which is also predominantly Shiite. Bringing Iraq closer into the Arab fold would help diminish Iranian influence. 

“We don’t want Iraq to turn into an arena for conflict,” Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul-Gheit said in his opening remarks. 

Iraqi President Barham Salih said the focus of the conference was mainly to build cooperation channels with Baghdad’s neighbors and regional partners. On the sidelines, however, rivals such as the UAE and Qatar, as well as Egypt and Qatar, held talks, according to Arab media. 

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The stakes are high for Iraq. Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi, while trying to short up the country’s economy, is also navigating the country’s complicated internal politics, even as he’s pulled between powerful, competing parties. 

France’s Macron, speaking ahead of the start of the conference, reiterated his country’s commitment to combat terrorism and stressed that stability in Iraq can’t be reached without the cooperation by all in the region. 

Macron also said that France would announce on Aug. 29 “a number of projects” in fields such as teaching and health, that would allow displaced Iraqis to return to their homes. 

Meanwhile, Iran’s Amirabdollahian said his country welcomes “any Iraqi-led regional initiative that comes with the participation of the countries in the region,” according to the foreign ministry’s official Telegram account. 

“Economic resources must be spent to reach a coalition for peace and development,” he said, adding that Iran is ready to develop bilateral ties with Iraq.

(Updates throughout with comments from Macron, Salih)

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