Iran to attend regional summit on Iraq

The Iranian interior minister has arrived in Bahrain to attend a ministerial meeting of Iraq’s neighbors which focuses on the country’s security situation.

The Wednesday meeting in Manama will gather interior ministers from Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Syria and Turkey.

An Iranian delegation headed by Deputy Interior Minister for Security Affairs Ali Abdollahi flew to Bahrain on Sunday to attend the preliminary meeting.

“The preparatory meeting focused on cooperation among Iraq’s neighboring states to boost security and stability in the country,” Iranian Interior Minister Mostafa Mohammad-Najjar said upon his arrival in Manama on Tuesday.

He further expressed hope that the regional summit would find a “collective solution” to promote security in Iraq.

The first summit of Iraq’s neighboring countries was held in the Iranian capital, Tehran, in 2004 upon an invitation from the Iranian government. The next sessions were held in Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Egypt respectively.

In their sixth session in the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm El- Shaikh, the ministers agreed to boost diplomatic and legal procedures to repatriate terrorists who perpetrated acts of terror inside and outside Iraq.