AMMAN: Arab foreign ministers will gather in Jordan on Monday to discuss Syria’s long-running conflict and ending diplomatic isolation of Damascus in the region, the foreign ministry in Amman said.

The moot will bring together foreign ministers from Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Syria.

The talks will “take stock of the contacts of these countries with the Syrian government to reach a political solution to the Syrian crisis”, a foreign ministry statement said Sunday.

Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad remained politically isolated since the conflict in his country began in 2011, but recent weeks have seen a flurry of diplomatic activity after Saudi Arabia and Iran — a close ally of Damascus — resumed diplomatic ties in March, shifting regional relations.

It called the gathering “a continuation of the consultative meeting of the countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council, Jordan, Iraq and Egypt, which was hosted by Saudi Arabia” in mid-April. That meeting saw nine Arab states meet in Jeddah to discuss ending Syria’s long spell in the diplomatic wilderness and its possible return to the 22-member Arab League after Damascus was suspended in 2011.

The diplomats highlighted the “importance of hav­ing an Arab leadership role in efforts to end the crisis” in Syria, a statement by the Saudi foreign ministry said.

April also saw Syria and Tunisia announce they would reopen diplomatic missions in their respective capitals, while the UAE had re-established ties with Damascus over four years ago.

While Assad is hoping full normalisation of ties with the wealthy Gulf monarchies, there remain regional opponents to Damascus’s reintegration. Qatar, which has supported Syrian rebel groups, called the idea of Syria returning to the Arab League mere ‘speculation’.

Raisi invited to Syria

Meanwhile, Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi will go to Damascus on May 3 at the official invitation of the Syrian president for a ‘very important’ two-day visit, state media reported.

“Dr Raisi’s trip to Damascus next Wednesday is a very important trip due to the changes and developments that are taking place in the region,” IRNA state news agency on Sunday quoted Tehran’s ambassador to Syria, Hossein Akbari, as saying.

Raisi’s visit will be the first by an Iranian president to Damascus since the start of the civil war in Syria in 2011.

Published in Dawn, May 1st, 2023