SULAIMANI (ESTA) — Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi will participate in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC+3) summit hosted by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the PM’s media office in a statement announced on Wednesday.
“Prime Minister Kadhimi will participate, early next week, in the summit hosted by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia,” the statement said.
GCC is scheduled to be held on July 15-16 in Saudi Arabia with the attendance of U.S. President Joe Biden along with leaders from Saudi, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, and the UAE, and the head of states from non-GCC members Jordan, Egypt, and Iraq.
Kadhimi’s participation in the summit sparked concerns among the Shiites in Iraq saying, “The goal of the summit is bringing the Arabic countries closer to Israel and normalization the relations with Tel Aviv” Shiite Media reported.
Previously in May, the Iraqi parliament passed legislation that criminalizes normalizing ties with Israel.
The law was proposed by influential Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr whose party, which opposes close ties with the United States and Israel, won more seats in parliament in elections last October.
