Over the course of three days, the State of Kuwait sponsored an international conference for the reconstruction of Iraq, with the participation of a number of donor countries and regional and international organizations headed by five parties – the European Union, Iraq, Kuwait, the United Nations and the World Bank. And hundreds of private companies and individual businessmen. For its part, the Iraqi government announced a huge program to invest in various fields of reconstruction, including about 40 projects of strategic character. The conference, which took place from February 12 to 14, 2018, was aimed at mobilizing momentum to alleviate the suffering of millions of displaced and affected Iraqi victims of the so-called war on terror, as well as the reconstruction of liberated areas and the areas in need. The conference was attended by 76 countries, 51 international aid organizations, 107 associations and institutions, 850 businessmen, as well as 2300 companies from 70 countries seeking dozens of investment opportunities to be realized within reconstruction.
At the end of the conference, Iraq got from donors pledging to secure $ 30 billion to help to rebuild it, some 17 years after the US invasion and years of internal conflict and war on ISIS organization. In conclusion, Iraq’s Foreign Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari said pledges made at an international donor conference to rebuild Iraq would help to rebuild it but “less than Iraq requires.” Arab pledges and grants totaled about $ 7.5 billion between loans, investments and export financing. Turkey has allocated $ 5 billion to Iraq in the form of loans and investments. US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson announced the signing of an agreement between the US Trade Bank and Iraq to grant Baghdad loans of about $ 3 billion. Britain, which led with the US the invasion of Iraq in 2003, said it would give Baghdad export credit facilities of $ 1 billion a year for 10 years. The European Union announced through its foreign affairs official Federica Mugherini that the EU would provide $ 400 million in humanitarian aid. On the first day of the conference, non-governmental organizations pledged to give $ 330 million in aid. Iraq and the World Bank signed two projects worth $ 510 million to improve the living conditions of Iraqis, the projects are added to a $ 750 million World Bank-funded program, to raise the total pledges of the bank in Iraq to 4.7 billion dollars compared to 600 million dollars four years ago .The Arab Development Fund (IDB) has announced a $ 1.5 billion financial settlement with Iraq. The Islamic Development Bank will provide a $ 500 million loan to Iraq. – Germany announced its intention to provide 350 million euros ($ 425 million) in 2018. Italy announced to provide Iraq with soft loans of 260 million euros ($ 316 million) and assistance with 11.5 million euros ($ 14 million). Finland has announced its support for Iraq by about $ 10 million for demining. Malaysia has pledged to provide $ 100,000. The aid included about 130 million dollars from the International Committee of the Red Cross, while the Kuwaiti Ministry of Awqaf and Zakat House pledged to give about 35 million dollars. The Peace Society pledged to give $ 15 million, the Direct Aid Association to give $ 10 million, and the Survival Association to give $ 10 million. The Kuwait Relief Society also pledged to give $ 10 million and the Kuwait Red Crescent Society pledged to give $ 2.5 million.
But what drew the attention of the attendees to the conference was the present, absentee of this mobilization for Iraq noting that Iran offered no financial support to Iraq. Its foreign minister, Jawad Zarif, refrained from declaring any commitment to help Iraq, contradicting successive Iranian statements about helping Baghdad. In his speech, the Iranian foreign minister said that his country had “fulfilled its obligations to Iraq over the past years.” He was not present in person in the collective photo taken by the heads of the participating delegations.
Some interpreted this as the economic and social conditions of Iran, which have recently manifested in the street protests against the high cost of living and the spread of unemployment, but others considered it an Iranian position from the conference as a whole, which in some of its dimensions and political meanings carried regional and international support for the government of Prime Minister Haider Abadi and an encouragement for the policy of openness and balance, which means establishing normal relations with various countries, including neighboring Arab countries, as a matter of equality and cooperation, not dependency as a model of the relationship with Iran since 2003. Critics of Iranian policies In Iraq, it has been said that Iran, which has benefited greatly from weakening Iraq and declining its regional standing, is not interested in restoring stability and restoring its strength. According to them, the opening of the foreign policy of the government of Abadi to the global and regional forces constitutes a concern for Iran, and to work with its allies inside the Iraq, senior leaders of political parties, to prevent him from winning a second term at the head of government during the parliamentary elections scheduled for the month of May.
The Kuwait conference, which was attended by a large number of countries, showed that Baghdad has a great opportunity to rebuild its regional and international relations on the basis of balance and to benefit politically and economically from those relations, especially as Iraq is coming to a new stage after the war on ISIS organization aspires through it for the stability that is not linked only to the security aspects and the defeat of the militants, but to the reconstruction process, which places a heavy financial burden on the country economically exhausted by the conditions of instability it is living in addition to the decline in oil prices. Arab support for Iraq could play a crucial role in balancing Iran’s influence in the country ahead of crucial elections in May. The political scene in Baghdad has seen rapid developments over the past few weeks, leading to the mobilization of most of Iran’s Iraqi allies in a single political bloc aimed at preventing Abadi from obtaining a second term as prime minister. Both sides, Iraq and the countries of the Arab region, in front of the test to correct the relationship between them and the opening of a new page of communication and cooperation and reconciliation… Baghdad must prove its seriousness and ability to break the dependence on Tehran and dependency. And the Arab capitals to convince Iraqis in a practical way, effectively its role in helping them to achieve stability and development and overcome the remnants of war in their country.
There is no doubt that there are real investment opportunities in Iraq, and this is present in a large part of the funds allocated at the Kuwait conference. There is no doubt about this, but there is also a deep political desire to stabilize and develop stability in Iraq and allocate funds for this. There is no contradiction between the desire for peace and the tendency to invest, both lead to each other. Iran has a problem with the economy, one of the reasons for recent popular protests. Last month, Iranian President Hassan Rowhani announced that the government controls only about a third of the budget, the rest goes to the Iranian Revolutionary Guards. In the course of the current Iranian protests, the demonstrators raised a slogan to the head of the Khomeinist regime shouting: “Leave Syria and deal with our problems.” The example of Kuwait may give a clear idea of the different objectives between Iraq’s neighbors … toward Iraq.
In summary, Iran’s very strange attitude towards the Kuwait Conference for the Reconstruction of Iraq is fully consistent with the policy of the “Islamic Republic” towards this country, which is not beyond than the goal of sabotaging and weakening it and to remove it from the regional equation since the eight-year war and its occupation by the United States to reach to the war on ISIS Which has been lasted for three years, where Iran participated in the destruction caused by it and does not seem willing to participate in the reconstruction.
Iranian Studies Unit
Rawabet Center for Research and Strategic Studies