Dialogue tout court, or dialogue of the deaf: the leaders invited to a conference supposed to contribute to the stabilization of Iraq, Tuesday, December 20, alternated between two postures, obviously contradictory. The meeting, co-hosted by Iraq, Jordan and France, brought together twelve countries from the region, including the Saudi and Iranian enemies.
In a luxury Jordanian hotel on the shores of the Dead Sea, in the small town of Sweimeh, everyone tried to show good will, without succeeding in dispelling the distrust that prevents any large-scale cooperation in the region. And not without renouncing, Iran in the lead, to defend their influence in a country torn apart by its long fight against the terrorist organization Islamic State, in the wake of the American invasion of 2003.
“Iraq’s Pivotal Role”
Basically, everyone makes the same observation, summed up by King Abdallah II of Jordan at the opening of the discussions, who underlined the “Iraq’s pivotal role » in maintaining the “stability” regional. But the various capitals continue to draw opposite conclusions.
The meeting was a kind of diplomatic baptism of fire for the new Iraqi Prime Minister, Mohammed Chia Al-Soudani, appointed after months of political deadlock following elections dominated by pro-Iranian parties. After going to Tehran in November, this leader, himself reputed to be close to Iran, therefore tried to give pledges. “This kind of conference is a window that strengthens regional cooperation efforts”he said, promising to have “balanced relations with all regional and international partners” and stay “away from the axes” policies. “Iraq faces an existential threat because of lack of water, we want to work with our neighbors Turkey and Iran”he specified.
These remarks were not enough to convince the Arab leaders who, unsurprisingly, multiplied the warnings against Iran. The Saudi Foreign Minister, Prince Faisal, thus reiterated “the total rejection by the kingdom of any form of aggression against the territory of Iraq”in reference to the recent strikes carried out by Iran against the Kurdish minority in the north of the country. “ The success of Iraq will be that of all the Arab countries”insisted Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sissi, before also emphasizing his “refusal of all external interventions in Iraq”.
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