- 00:00Increasingly, what we are seeing, especially in the last couple of years, is they’ve got politically a lot closer. And I had the opportunity to speak with the Prime Minister over the course of the weekend, and it is worth noting that he does enjoy a parliamentary majority. But the reason he enjoys that parliamentary majority is because he’s being given legitimacy by political groups that are closely supported and affiliated to Iran. And so it is very noteworthy that just in the last couple of years, Iraq has fostered much closer political relationships. And one of the concerns in the region is that there are several non-state actors that are, again, operating within the so-called axis of resistance that have been carrying out attacks, either U.S. targets or Israeli targets. Well, your leadership of the conversation in Dubai, how does a Sunni Middle East react to a combined Shia Iran and Iraq? How does Saudi Arabia, how does UAE, Kuwait, the rest out of frankly, to the west, to Morocco? How do they respond to this combination? So the impression that I got from speaking to the Prime Minister is that they see themselves as somewhat of a mediator. Now, you will remember again, this went under the radar, but there was somewhat of a mediation that took place between Saudi Arabia and Iran a couple of years ago. And everyone gave China the credit for hosting the talks between the two countries. But of course, one being Sydney and one being Shia. Then in reality, it was Iraq operating behind the scenes, going in between the two. Now you have to remember there’s another link between Iraq and Saudi Arabia, and that is, of course, they’re the second largest oil producer with an opaque they’re very important member of OPEC. There’s a lot of focus, obviously, within OpEx to support oil prices right now. And so Iraq is pitching itself as a country that can mediate between all countries in the Gulf and also one that looks to enjoy bilateral security relationships with the U.S. once the full withdrawal of the coalition forces take place.
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