March 18, New Delhi – A meeting of Arab and Islamic foreign ministers is taking place in light of the ongoing Iranian attacks on countries in the region, with the participation of several foreign ministers from Arab, Islamic, and regional countries.
Representatives from Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Pakistan, Qatar, Syria, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates are attending the meeting. There are few signs of de-escalation nearly three weeks into the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran, which has engulfed the region and caused unprecedented disruption to global energy supplies.
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, who intends to visit other countries after Riyadh, is emphasizing the need for a negotiated and peaceful end to the war, which, if continued, risks lasting damage to relations between regional countries.
Turkey, a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and a neighbor to Iran, has sought to mediate between Iran and the United States before the war began. It has condemned U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran as a violation of international law, and has also criticized Iran's attacks on Gulf states as unacceptable.