Cairo -

Between Sharm El-Sheikh, Aqaba and the Negev, Egypt intensified its political and diplomatic moves, in light of regional arrangements that some see as hostile to Iran, while others see them as pursuing various Egyptian interests, the latest of which was the attempt to revive the new Levant project at the Aqaba summit.

Last Friday, the Kingdom of Jordan hosted a four-way summit that brought together the leaders of Egypt, Jordan, Iraq and the UAE, which came in the context of strengthening cooperation mechanisms within the framework of what is known as the revival of the New Levant Project.

The New Levant is an emerging regional alliance project that brings together Egypt, Jordan and Iraq, and it appears, according to observers, that it has a political goal of confronting Iranian influence in Iraq, welcomed by Arab leaders and Washington, by strengthening economic ties and increasing security cooperation, and linking the three countries through a large-scale infrastructure. for energy.

While the official statements about the outcomes of the Aqaba summit preferred to describe it as a consultative meeting and an exchange of views without going into its details, the official Egyptian newspaper Al-Ahram indicated that it represents a translation of the activation of the Egyptian-Jordanian-Iraqi Coordination Council over the past three years, while it was called the New Levant or the New Mashreq.

There is a common thread linking the meetings of the tripartite alliance, which includes the UAE for the first time, and the meetings that have been held and are being held these days in the region, as they came ahead of US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken's tour of the region, including Israel, the West Bank, Morocco and Algeria.

The Aqaba summit also came a few days after a tripartite meeting that brought together Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed, and Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett in Sharm El-Sheikh.

On Sunday, for the first time, Israel hosted in the Negev the foreign ministers of the United States, Egypt, the Emirates, Bahrain and Morocco, which the Israeli government press office described as a "summit of hope", anticipating its transformation into a permanent forum with the United States.

Aqaba summit and the new sham

According to a statement by the Egyptian presidency, the Aqaba meeting discussed strengthening the relations of joint cooperation between the four countries in the trade and economic fields, in addition to exchanging views regarding facing the repercussions of the current global conditions on the sectors of food security, energy and trade, in a way that maintains regional stability and energy security.

In turn, Al-Ahram newspaper reported, on Sunday, that the Aqaba summit represents a translation of the new Levant project, which is based on political understandings, dimensions and economic interests, especially energy and investment files, through the relative advantages that they enjoy as countries, and benefiting from the capabilities enhanced by geographical communication among them.

Perhaps the presence of both the UAE and Saudi Arabia reflects the keenness to expand the Arab consultation mechanism, activate the multiple strategic partnership mechanisms, arrange the affairs of the countries of the region through the countries of the region themselves, and absorb any pressures that international powers may exercise, according to the official editorial of the government newspaper Al-Ahram.

In the last three years, tripartite meetings were held between Cairo, Baghdad and Amman with the aim of implementing deals for infrastructure, energy savings and strengthening trade relations.

The roots of the project go back to a previous study prepared by the World Bank in March 2014, according to the study, it includes Syria, Lebanon, Jordan and the Palestinian territories, in addition to Turkey, Iraq and Egypt, but it remained only a theoretical study.

With the beginning of 2019, the project began to find its way to light, after Egypt, Jordan and Iraq held several meetings at the level of leaders or foreign ministers to confront the geopolitical climate change in the region.

The project is based on economic and political understandings between the three countries, and this works to attract investments to Iraq, enhance electrical interconnection and energy exchange, link gas transmission networks, and provide outlets for the export of Iraqi oil through Jordan and Egypt by proceeding with the completion of the Arab gas pipeline and the establishment of a crude oil transmission line (Basra-Aqaba).

Does the Aqaba summit revive the new Sham project?

In response to this question, the Egyptian political analyst Mokhtar Ghobashi, Vice President of the Al-Farabi Center for Studies, stressed that the four-way summit in Aqaba certainly came within the framework of promoting the new Levant project.

In statements to Al-Jazeera Net, Ghobashi said that there is a birth of the project, which includes Egypt, Jordan and Iraq, noting that it has begun to take its way through steps that include the inauguration of a land road between the three countries, and an oil line that exits from Baghdad through Aqaba to the Sinai Peninsula.

He pointed out that the project represents one of the forms of integration between the Arab Trio, especially with regard to electrical interconnection projects, and the establishment of an exclusive customs zone between Iraq and Jordan.

On the UAE's goals for participating in the project and the repercussions of its accession, the Egyptian political analyst explained that the presence of Abu Dhabi will push to activate and strengthen the project, especially from the funding body to achieve its economic goals and objectives.

He added that the purpose of the project at its inception was not only the tripartite alliance between Egypt, Jordan and Iraq, but also to include other Arab countries, including Lebanon and Syria, in a future stage, especially if the situation stabilized and Damascus regained its seat in the Arab League.

He saw that the UAE favors joining the project and its success, as well as the inclusion of other Arab allies, which was evident during the recent meeting of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Mohammed bin Zayed.

Aqaba and regional arrangements

In the context of the recent shuttle rounds and meetings, Ghobashi expected Washington to not object to the new Levant project, stressing that the US administration favors the project because, in one way or another, it wants to withdraw Iraq from the Iranian mantle, although it is very difficult to achieve this on the ground.

The Egyptian political analyst also ruled out the existence of a relationship between the four-way summit in Aqaba and the last tripartite meeting in Sharm el-Sheikh, or the ministerial summit hosted by Israel and bringing together for the first time the foreign ministers of Egypt, Morocco, the UAE, Bahrain and the United States.

Ghobashi explained that each of these meetings has a purpose and has different dimensions, but added that in the end, Israel remains greedy for the existence of what he described as an "Arab NATO" to confront Iran at the instigation of Gulf states, in light of the possible fears of the repercussions of the current Western negotiations with Tehran. With regard to its nuclear program, with Egypt and Jordan stimulating and the two countries joining this expanded security alliance, which may write an end and a conclusion to the Palestinian cause.

new equation

In turn, the Iraqi academic specializing in strategic affairs and international security, Firas Elias, went on to say that the new Levant project came to rearrange the regional equation, by transforming the regional entanglement from its security dimension to a new economic dimension, but the circumstances under which the project came in the last stage are still Imposing its rhythm at the present time.

In statements to Al-Jazeera Net, Elias added that the success of the Aqaba summit in reviving the project does not depend on the circumstances of the summit itself, but on the extent of the success of the outgoing Iraqi Prime Minister Al-Kazemi in returning again, as he is the official sponsor of the project, and it is not expected that any president will walk New ministers follow his approach, given the political complexity that Iraq is experiencing after the election results.

With regard to the Emirati role, Elias saw that the UAE is trying to rearrange the regional cards before Iran reaches any nuclear deal with the United States, by involving more than one regional power in its security equation, as it is not limited to Egypt, Jordan and Iraq, but also Israel and Turkey.

The Iraqi academic added that what happened was a preventive Emirati move before the region faced new political and security entitlements that were not in its interest, he said.

He also did not rule out the existence of a common thread between the Aqaba summit and the recent increasing diplomatic movement to confront Iran, especially the six-party ministerial meeting that Israel hosted in the Negev.

He explained that one of the most prominent political commonalities that brought together the countries participating in the Aqaba summit is the escalating Iranian threats in the region, as it comes in conjunction with the escalation of Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia and before it the UAE, and it also comes with the possibility of an American move towards removing the Iranian Revolutionary Guard from the list of terrorist organizations Therefore, the summit comes in one of its aspects to deal with the new and expected benefits.