Iraq Hosts Summit of Top Regional States
Voice of America
CAIRO - Top Middle Eastern and European leaders discussed prospects for economic, political and security cooperation between Iraq and its neighbors Saturday, as they gathered in Baghdad for a summit.
The leaders of Egypt, Jordan and France met alongside the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, Iran and Turkey and the prime minister of Kuwait. The leaders applauded as Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Khadhimi described his hopes for strengthening regional cooperation to improve the lot of his people following years of turmoil. It was the first large gathering of top Arab leaders in Baghdad since a 2012 Arab summit. The presence at the summit of Iran's new foreign minister, Hussein Amir Abdollahian, provided a glimmer of optimism for a thaw in relations between Tehran and its top regional adversaries, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Speaking in Arabic, Abdollahian held out an olive branch to Arab states.Palestinians gather at the site of an Israeli strike on a camp for internally displaced people in Rafah on May 27, 2024. Fire rages following an Israeli strike on an area designated for displaced Palestinians, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, in this still picture taken from a video, May 26, 2024. Palestinians gather at the site of an Israeli strike on a camp for internally displaced people in Rafah on May 27, 2024. A member of the bomb squad of the Israeli police collects debris after a rocket fired by Palestinian militants struck in the Israeli city of Herzliya on May 26, 2024.