Iran seeks united front against US dominance at Egypt meeting

Following his brief visit to Ankara, Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki then departed for Damascus. Upon his arrival late on Tuesday, he told reporters that the trip was part of "continued consultations" on regional and international issues, especially Iraq. He said Iran was still "studying the matter" of whether it would attend the May 3-4 conference on Iraq's security in the Egyptian resort town of Sharm el-Sheik. "We still have time," he said.

In Ankara, during talks with both Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his Turkish counterpart, Foreign Minister Abdullah Gül, Mottaki clearly expressed Tehran's uneasiness over the fact that the upcoming meeting in Egypt, which will gather the foreign ministers of Iraq's neighboring countries with the permanent members of the UN Security Council -- including Iran's longtime rival the US -- and the G8 countries, will be held without a meeting of the foreign ministers of Iraq's neighbors in preparation for the expanded meeting.

The meeting in Egypt, planned as a follow-up to earlier talks working to stabilize the war-torn country, was originally an idea put forth by Turkey, which wanted to hold them in İstanbul. After a drawn-out process concerning the exact date and venue of the meeting, Iraq's Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari in early April announced that they would take place in Sharm el-Sheik on May 3-4. Originally, a meeting of foreign ministers of Iraq's neighbors was to have been held before the expanded meeting.

Apparently well aware of Ankara's mood, which is reproachful of both Iraq and the US for not being able to host such a summit although having floated the original idea, Tehran has aimed at having the support of both Ankara and Damascus to strengthen its hand in a dispute with the US, a senior diplomat speaking on condition of anonymity, told Today's Zaman following Mottaki's visit to the capital.

During talks in Ankara, Mottaki brought up an issue hinting that Iran may boycott the Egypt meeting if five Iranian diplomats held by the US in Iraq were not released beforehand. The US detained the five Iranians in the northern Iraqi city of Arbil in January and has refused to release them or allow Iranian officials a chance to visit the men. US officials say the captives are elite Iranian commandos; Iran says they are diplomats.

"Tehran obviously wants to clearly show with these hastily arranged visits that their possible participation in the Egypt meeting will not be offered on a silver platter," the same diplomat said.

Yet the diplomat admitted that Mottaki's visit also offered an opportunity to Turkey for expressing its uneasiness on the venue of the upcoming meeting. Ankara has so far avoided commenting on the decision announced by Zebari, who is also the coordinator of the expanded meeting, in an effort not to become involved in yet another dispute with Iraqi Kurds.

However, following Mottaki's visit diplomatic sources broke their long silence concerning the issue with a few words: "Our understanding was first of all holding a neighboring countries' meeting in Cairo, then having the expanded meeting in İstanbul. But this way, the neighboring countries meeting has been skipped."

Although Ankara has not yet made a final decision regarding the level at which Turkey will be represented in Egypt, as the meeting coincides with a hectic domestic agenda concerning presidential elections, which may limit Foreign Minister Gül's travels abroad, the same diplomat emphasizes that this fact should not be misunderstood.

"Iraq is our neighbor, and the maintenance of stability in this country is a priority for us. No matter where such an important meeting is held, we will be there," he said. "We firmly believe that Syria also has the same understanding and stance with us when the issue comes to Iraq's stability. We don't expect any boycott of the Egypt meeting from them," he added, as he confirmed that US officials seemed discomforted by Mottaki's unplanned talks in Ankara and Damascus.