US and Poland launch Middle East conference despite uncertain aims, with Benjamin Netanyahu and Mike Pence in attendance
- Meeting had originally been intended to focus on Iran, but now will include Islamic State, Syria and Yemen
The United States and Poland are kicking off an international conference on the Middle East on Wednesday amid uncertainty over its aims and questions about what it will deliver.
Initially it was billed by US President Donald Trump’s administration as an Iran-focused meeting, but the organisers significantly broadened its scope to include the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the fight against Islamic State, Syria and Yemen.
The shift was designed in part to boost participation after some invitees balked at an Iran-centric event when many, particularly in Europe, are trying to save the 2015 Iran nuclear deal after last year’s US withdrawal and re-imposition of sanctions in its self-described “maximum pressure campaign”.
Yet the agenda for the discussions contains no hint of any concrete action that might result beyond creating “follow-on working groups”, and many of the roughly 60 countries participating will be represented at levels lower than foreign minister.
While Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US Vice-President Mike Pence will attend along with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and his counterparts from numerous Arab nations, France and Germany are not sending cabinet-ranked officials, and EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini is staying away.