Iraq to host ‘regional summit’ in late August — PM

BAGHDAD — Baghdad is to host a regional summit late this month, with French President Emmanuel Macron also attending, the Iraqi premier’s office said on Monday.

Iraq’s foreign ministry said Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Saudi Arabia’s King Salman have been invited, although an exact date has not been announced.

The announcement comes as Baghdad is under pressure from powerful pro-Iran armed groups in Iraq to ensure that American personnel from a US-led coalition, comprised in part of French troops, withdraw from the country.

It also comes as Turkey tries to improve its relations with Gulf states, notably Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

Baghdad has not said whether newly inaugurated President Ebrahim Raisi of Iran, the arch-enemy of Saudi Arabia and the United States, would attend.

Iraq is seeking to establish itself as a mediator between Arab countries and Iran.

Macron told Prime Minister Mustafa Al Kadhemi in a phone call that he planned to visit Iraq to attend the conference, Kadhemi’s office said.

It would be Macron’s second visit to the country in less than a year.

Iraq, an ally of both Tehran and Washington, has been an arena for bitter rivalry between Iran and the US, a key ally of Saudi Arabia.

Baghdad has this year hosted senior Iranian and Saudi officials in efforts to help Tehran and Riyadh restore their relations, which collapsed in 2016.

A rebuilding of ties between those two regional heavyweights would benefit Iraq, which regularly sees rocket attacks by pro-Iran groups against US interests, including troops sent by Washington to fight the Sunni extremist Daesh group.

Iraq officially declared victory over IS in 2017, but 2,500 US soldiers, alongside other coalition troops, remain in the country, and the terrorists continue to carry out attacks.

Several hundred French troops are currently deployed in Iraq as part of the anti-Daesh coalition in both Iraq and Syria.

While Iran itself views Daesh as an enemy, it is more preoccupied with the US presence in Iraq than any risk of a resurgence by the terrorists.

US President Joe Biden announced in July that US combat operations in Iraq will conclude by year-end.

The presence of pro-Iran paramilitaries in Iraq is routinely used by Tehran as a bargaining chip in diplomacy with Baghdad, according to Iraqi officials.

Ramzy Mardini, an associate at the Pearson Institute at the University of Chicago, said the planned regional meeting is an “important step in symbolism and reflects the cooperative ties of the [Iraqi] prime minister to regional leaders”.

But its signficance “should not be overstated”.

The Iraqi “state... remains contested, internally”, he noted.

Iraq’s pro-Iran armed groups view Kadhemi — who has faced an uphill battle in trying to contain their power — as too close to Washington.

Macron “praised Iraqi diplomacy as balanced” during Monday’s call, Kadhemi’s office said.