The Elysee announces regional summit in Jordan before the end of the year

French President Emmanuel Macron gestures during a visit in Saint-Cirq-Lapopie, near Cahors, southwestern France, on June 2, 2021. (Photo: AFP)
(File photo: Jordan News)
AMMAN  — The Elysee Palace announced that in light of the ongoing tension with Iran and Turkey, a regional summit will be held in Jordan “before the end of the year”, bringing together Iraq and neighboring countries, with France participating, just like with the Baghdad conference in August 2021, media outlets reported.اضافة اعلان

The announcement was made after a phone call between French President Emmanuel Macron and Iraqi Prime Minister Mohamed Shia Al-Sudani on Sunday.

The Elysee stated in a statement that “following their call on November 27, the two officials agreed to continue preparing, in coordination with Jordan, for the next summit, such as the Baghdad Summit”, which will bring together in Amman the main leaders of the region and the French president before the end of the year. No list of participants has been supplied so far.

The statement said that Macron and Sudani “shared their concerns about the escalation of tension” after a series of Turkish air raids on Kurdish fighters’ positions in northeastern Syria and northern Iraq.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan threatened to launch a “land operation” in Syria, after an attack that took place on November 13 in Istanbul, and Ankara accused the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which is based in Iraq, and the Kurdish People’s Protection Units in Syria, of being behind it.
The Jordan Summit will bring together Iraq and neighboring countries, with France participating.
On the other hand, Iran recently launched a series of missile and drone strikes against Iranian Kurdish opposition factions in Iraqi Kurdistan.

The Elysee added that Macron, who invited Sudani to visit France at the beginning of 2023, “reminded once again that Iraq can count on France’s support to confront violations of its sovereignty and stability and in combating terrorism”.

In August 2021 top Middle Eastern and European leaders discussed prospects for economic, political and security cooperation between Iraq and its neighbors while in Baghdad for a summit.

The leaders of Jordan, Egypt, and France met alongside the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, Iran, and Turkey and the prime minister of Kuwait.

The presence at the summit of Iran’s new foreign minister, Hussein Amir Abdollahian, provided a glimmer of optimism that there could be a thaw in relations between Tehran and its top regional adversaries, Saudi Arabia and the UAE. Speaking in Arabic, Abdollahian held out an olive branch to Arab states.

He said Iran would like to improve relations with countries in the region, through economic and cultural cooperation, without what he called the usual interference from international powers. Foreign interference, he argued, has created tensions and regional insecurity.


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