Iraqi, Syrian, and Iranian Foreign Ministers To Meet Amid Escalating Conflict in Syria
Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein will host Syria and Iran’s top diplomats on Friday for last-minute talks aimed at addressing the rapidly escalating situation in Syria, Iraq’s state news agency (INA) reported Thursday.
The meeting, which will include Hussein, Syria’s Foreign Minister Bassam Sabbagh, and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, was planned in response to rapid territorial gains by anti-government Syrian rebels, who seized control of Aleppo, Syria’s second-largest city last week before pushing further south to capture the city of Hama on Thursday.
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The offensive, spearheaded by the Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham militia and a coalition of Turkish-backed insurgents, represents the most substantial losses suffered by Iran-backed Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in years.
Sabbagh arrived in Baghdad on Thursday ahead of the meeting, while Araghchi is expected to join on Friday, INA said.
Both Iraqi and Syrian sources confirmed that non-Hezbollah Iraqi fighters entered Syria this week to support Assad. Meanwhile, Iraq’s Hashd al-Shaabi paramilitary coalition, aligned with Shiite Iran, has mobilized along the border, citing precautionary measures in the event fighting spillover into Iraqi territory.
All three nations have strong, but complicated ties, with Iran playing a key role in supporting Assad’s government during the Syrian conflict, and Iraq balancing its alliance with Tehran and relationship with the US against its own security concerns along its porous border with Syria.
