BAGHDAD — Abbas Araghchi, Iran’s foreign minister, travelled to Baghdad on Saturday, according to Iran International, for a ministers’ meeting at which Türkiye is expected to condemn attacks on Gulf countries and call Israel’s actions the Middle East’s most significant security threat, Daily Sabah reported, citing diplomatic sources.
The 52nd session of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation began in the Iraqi capital on Saturday, after the participating delegations had arrived, Iraqi Foreign Ministry spokesman Hassanein Kamil said, according to Anadolu Agency. The two-day meeting is held under the theme “Dialogue and Solidarity: Two Essential Pillars for Promoting Peace and Sustainable Development.”
Iraq is expected to take over the organisation’s rotating presidency from Türkiye during the session, and it does so with a government that is itself new, after parliament confirmed 11 more ministers in the Iraq cabinet on Thursday, TEH reported. The OIC said its Secretary-General, Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, reached Baghdad on Friday with a delegation, and that discussions would cover the Palestinian cause, the regional humanitarian and political situation, economic cooperation and food security.
The Turkish agenda is longer than the headline. Daily Sabah, citing diplomatic sources, said Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan would also call for measures against countries relocating embassies to Jerusalem, press for uninterrupted humanitarian aid to Gaza and demand Israel’s full withdrawal from southern Lebanon. The latest embassy move was the Colombia Jerusalem embassy opening on Wednesday.
Israel’s attacks in Gaza, which TEH recognises as a genocide, are also on the agenda, Anadolu Agency reported, along with developments in other conflict zones across the Islamic world. The Gulf is the delicate item. Daily Sabah’s account has Fidan condemning attacks on Gulf countries and stressing freedom of navigation through the Strait of Hormuz and Bab el-Mandeb, while Houthi strikes, including this month’s Riyadh airport attack, have hit Saudi Arabia. Iran International said Araghchi is expected to hold bilateral meetings with other ministers; none of the reports reviewed says what he will tell the room about the Gulf.
The meeting is expected to close with the adoption of a “Baghdad Declaration,” Daily Sabah reported. Whether its text names the attacks on the Gulf, or only Israel’s actions, is not yet known.
