The meeting: A follow-up meeting of the recent Baghdad Conference has been held on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly. As on Aug. 28 in the Iraqi capital, the gathering brought together mainly regional officials along with some European representatives.

• Iranian media report that the gathering was attended by Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian and “the foreign ministers and senior representatives of Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Kuwait, Egypt, Qatar, and France,” without offering specifics.

• Others reportedly in attendance included the EU foreign policy chief as well as the secretary-generals of the Arab League, Organization of Islamic Cooperation, and the Gulf Cooperation Council.

• Amir-Abdollahian emphasized that Iran seeks dialogue and improved relations with its neighbors, further underscoring that “diplomacy” is the only way to solve regional “crises.”

The outcome: Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi has sought to make the Baghdad Conference a recurring platform for dialogue, with rotating venues. On Sept. 8, an Iraqi political source close to Kadhimi revealed to Amwaj.media that the Baghdad Conference was never envisioned as a one-off, saying, “The participants are mulling the idea of making this an annual gathering; each time in a different capital.” He added, “Moreover, there is a possibility that other regional countries will join whenever their circumstances allow for it to happen.”

• Those who participated in the Sept. 21 meeting in New York, which was held at the Iraqi ambassador’s residence, agreed on Jordan as the venue for the next session.

• Speaking on condition of anonymity, Iranian sources have told Amwaj.media that the meeting was held in the afternoon and that the level of diplomatic representation was high.

• The Iranian sources stated that the foreign ministers in attendance beyond Amir-Abdollahian were Yves Le Drian of France, Sheikh Ahmad Nasser Al-Mohammad Al-Sabah of Kuwait, and Ayman Safadi of Jordan.

The Iran-Saudi track: An informed Iraqi political source told Amwaj.media on Sept. 8 that the fourth of talks between Iran and Saudi Arabia in Baghdad this year would be held in “two weeks.” That timeline indicates that a meeting may be held any day now, and even if Amir-Abdollahian is in New York. The reason for the latter is that Iran’s foreign ministry is not in the driver’s seat on the dialogue.

• The Iran-Saudi talks have been stalled for months over the power transition in Tehran. Conservative Ebrahim Raisi won Iran’s June 18 polls on the back of the lowest voter turnout in an Iranian presidential election. The annual Haj pilgrimage has also been cited as a reason for why the talks have been pushed back.

• Amir-Abdollahian’s attendance of the Aug. 28 Baghdad Conference was his first visit abroad since being confirmed by the Iranian parliament on Aug. 25. He caused a stir after criticizing the absence of Syria, and also for apparently ignoring protocol during the family photo.

• Rather than standing on his assigned spot on the back row during the summit family photo—alongside the Saudi foreign minister—Amir-Abdollahian stood in the front row with heads of government and state. He later brushed off criticism of the latter, saying that he “stood in the real position of Iran and the representative of the Islamic Republic of Iran.”

Despite the tension over the family photo, which reportedly led the Saudis to call off a brief meeting between the Iranian and Saudi chief diplomats, the dialogue between the countries in Iraq remains on track.

• One reason why the Iran-Saudi engagement has not been impacted by the photo blunder in Baghdad pertains to the composition of the Iranian delegation. It is led by Saeed Iravani, the deputy secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council (SNSC). It also includes officials from the Quds Force, intelligence ministry and the foreign ministry.

• Confirming the apparently positive trajectory of the political engagement, the Saudi king notably in his address before the United Nations General Assembly on Sept. 22 stated, “"We hope that our preliminary talks with [Iran] lead to tangible outcome to build trust, paving the way to achieve aspirations of our peoples in building relations of cooperation.”

The Iran-Iraq dimension: Under heavy fire at home, Iraq’s prime minister has invested heavy political capital in the Baghdad Conference to showcase his efforts to turn Iraq into a bridge rather than a battleground. With his country set to hold parliamentary elections on Oct. 10, Kadhimi himself won’t run. However, he is widely believed to be seeking a second term by appointment.

• The Iraqi prime minister is speculated to have traveled to Tehran on Sept. 12 to seek Iran’s backing for his second term, though sources close to Kadhimi have dismissed such insinuations.

• Kadhimi did not get an audience with Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei during his visit, as has been the custom for Iraqi prime ministers since 2003. However, as Amwaj.media exclusively reported on Sept. 14, Khamenei had in the prior weeks sent a “very positive handwritten letter.”

• The Iranian supreme leader’s decision not to meet Kadhimi was likely rooted in a strong preference for not being seen as favoring any candidate to become Iraq’s next prime minister.

With elections around the corner, Kadhimi now appears to be under pressure from Iran to make good on any promises he may have made during his visit to Tehran.

• The Iraqi prime minister agreed to allow more Iranians to visit Iraq for the upcoming annual Arbaeen pilgrimage. The Sept. 27-28 event, which prior to the Covid-19 pandemic drew millions of Iranian Shiites, commemorates the 40^th day after the 7^th-century killing of Hussein ibn Ali, the grandson of Prophet Muhammad.

• Kadhimi also discussed Iraq’s repayment of outstanding debt for imports of electricity and natural gas from Iran. The tab amounts to several billion dollars and has yet to be repaid given the US secondary sanctions on the Islamic Republic. The two sides have long been locked in talks on how to settle the debt.

Against this backdrop, Iran’s new Petroleum Minister Jawad Owji on Sept. 20 appointed Abbas Beheshti as his special envoy for Iraq. Among the duties outlined for Beheshti in the official decree are “endeavoring to speed up settling gas export claims in coordination with the Central Bank and the National Iranian Gas Company.”

• Faced with major shortages at home and unpaid bills, Iran earlier this summer cut natural gas exports to Iraq. The move had a major impact on power supply as a major portion of electricity in Iraq is generated by power plants which rely on Iranian natural gas.

• The appointment of Beheshti as a special envoy for Iraq signals not just an increased Iranian desire to forge closer energy cooperation, but possibly also heightened efforts to get Iraq to settle its multi-billion-dollar debt.

The future: Iranian and Saudi officials are likely to soon meet in Baghdad, possibly following the Sept. 27-28 Arbaeen pilgrimage. That timeline would give Amir-Abdollahian time to return from New York, even though no Iranian foreign minister has so far attended any of the sessions in Iraq.

Importantly, Amir-Abdollahian has a history of direct involvement in groundbreaking diplomatic exchanges in the Iraqi capital. In 2007, he led an Iranian delegation that met with US officials to discuss security issues. At the time, Amir-Abdollahian stated that the two sides had spoken about “the way the wrong policies of the [US] occupiers in Iraq have led to the strengthening of terrorism.” While the dialogue led to a dead end, it was notable since it was the first direct Iran-US engagement in many years.

With indirect Iran-US talks to revive the 2015 Iran nuclear deal expected to be held in the first half of October, the coming weeks may be particularly eventful.