The summit of Iraq's neighbors, the "Baghdad Conference for Cooperation and Partnership," held on Saturday in the Iraqi capital, witnessed mistakes made by the head of the Iranian delegation, which were shared by social media users across the Arab world. Social media users circulated a video of Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, who made an error by providing inaccurate information regarding the volume of trade between Iran and Iraq.
The video captured Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi correcting this misinformation for the Iranian official. In his speech at the summit, Abdollahian stated that the trade volume between Iran and Iraq amounts to 300 billion dollars annually. Al-Kadhimi waited for the Iranian minister to finish his speech before correcting him, saying that the actual trade volume between the two countries is only 13 billion dollars.
Abdollahian did not stop at this mistake, as he also breached diplomatic norms and traditions associated with international conferences. During the group photo op with participating leaders and officials, the Iranian official stood in the front row, which is typically reserved for presidents, whereas he was supposed to be in the second row alongside other ministers and officials.
U.S. President Joe Biden praised the outcomes of the Baghdad Conference, noting that this diplomacy is more important than ever as it aims to ease tensions among neighboring countries and broaden cooperation across the Middle East.
A statement from the White House said: "The United States continues to stand by our Iraqi partner as we work together to achieve greater stability across the Middle East. We remain committed to enhancing our bilateral relationship under the Strategic Framework Agreement." The statement added, "When Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi and I met in the Oval Office last month, we discussed Iraq's important role in the region and the significant efforts led by the Iraqi government, including the Kurdistan Regional Government, to improve and strengthen relations between Iraq and its neighbors."
The White House concluded the statement by asserting, "Diplomacy must be the primary tool of our foreign policy, and we are grateful to have partners who share this vision."
