This “Baghdad 2023 Conference for economic integration and regional stability” was “postponed sine die due to regional events and in particular what is happening in Palestine,” Farhad Alaaldin, an advisor to the Prime Minister, told AFP. Iraqi Minister Mohamed Chia al-Soudani, confirming information from the French daily Le Figaro.
Iraq, he continued, “is focusing its efforts on achieving a ceasefire and helping the Palestinian people.” Farhad Alaaldin did not specify who was behind this postponement.
Baghdad does not recognize Israel
This new edition of the Baghdad Conference should have taken place in the Iraqi capital at the end of the month in the presence of French President Emmanuel Macron. It aims to “consolidate a regional agenda in support of Iraqi sovereignty”, declared the head of state when announcing its holding at the end of August.
The two previous editions took place in Baghdad in August 2021 and in Jordan in December 2022. Since October 7, the Gaza Strip has been shelled relentlessly by Israel in response to an unprecedented attack by Hamas on Israeli soil. More than 8,700 people, including 3,648 children, have been killed in the Gaza Strip since then, according to the Health Ministry of Hamas, the Palestinian Islamist movement which controls this territory.
In Israel, more than 1,400 people, mainly civilians, were killed during the Hamas attack, according to authorities. In Iraq, there is broad consensus in defense of the Palestinian cause and transcends political differences. Like its Iranian neighbor, sworn enemy of the Israeli state, Baghdad does not recognize Israel.
The Iraqi Prime Minister has been criticizing the “Zionist occupation” since the start of the Israeli bombings on Gaza, which he describes as a “genocide” of the Palestinian people. In addition, for two weeks American forces and their allies deployed in Iraq within the international anti-jihadist coalition have been the target of attacks claimed for the most part by a group called “Islamic Resistance in Iraq” on Telegram channels affiliated with the powerful factions. pro-Iranian Iraqis.
These groups have increased threats against the United States because of Washington’s support for Israel in its war against Hamas. Washington accuses Tehran of being involved by proxy in these attacks.