Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kazemi said that the Jeddah conference, which will be held in Saudi Arabia with his attendance, "will not witness the discussion of the file of normalization with Israel," and considered the talk about this "an attempt to confuse Iraq's restoration of its role in the region."
And the Prime Minister's media office quoted - today, Friday - on his Twitter page that "Iraq's position is firm and clear on the Palestinian issue, and is not open to discussion."
Prime Minister @MAKadhimi: Iraq's position is consistent and clear on the Palestinian issue and is not negotiable. Also, Iraq cannot be a starting point to threaten any of its neighbors, and we will not allow any party to take Iraq as a starting point to threaten its neighbors, or create problems by using Iraqi lands. .
pic.twitter.com/xAQ912KirG
— Media Office of the Prime Minister 🇮🇶 (@IraqiPMO) July 15, 2022
Al-Kazemi stressed in a press conference held in Baghdad prior to his travel to attend the Jeddah summit that "Iraq has not and will not be, neither today nor tomorrow, in any military axis or alliance, and the national interest is the goal of these meetings."
The Iraqi News Agency (INA) quoted the Prime Minister as saying that "Iraq will not be a starting point to threaten any of the neighboring countries, and we will not allow any party to take our land as a starting point to threaten the neighbors, or create problems by using Iraqi lands."
He continued, "Today we are responding to an invitation received by Iraq to participate in the Jeddah conference, which will be attended by the Gulf Cooperation Council countries, the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, the Arab Republic of Egypt, in addition to the United States of America."
Regarding his upcoming meeting with US President Joe Biden, the prime minister said, "We will discuss with the Americans what we agreed on in the strategic agreement, and activate agreements in the field of education, culture, health, and other areas that reflect on the economic role."
US President Biden arrived this Friday afternoon in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, from Israel, on the first direct trip by an American president from Tel Aviv to the Kingdom, and it is his third and final stop on his tour that included Israel and Palestine.