IRAQ SAYS PREPARATIONS UNDERWAY FOR NEW ARAB MINISTERIAL MEETING

ISTANBUL, March 23 (Bernama-Anadolu) -- Iraq said Sunday that preparations are underway for a new virtual Arab League foreign ministers' meeting to discuss escalating regional security developments, Anadolu Ajansi (AA) reported.

It will mark the second such meeting since the start of the US-Israeli offensive against Iran on Feb 28 and Tehran’s subsequent retaliatory strikes.

The previous meeting, held virtually on March 10, served as an emergency session of the Arab League to address the immediate fallout of the conflict, condemning Iranian attacks on regional countries and calling for their immediate cessation.

Plans for the new meeting were announced following separate phone calls by Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein with his Omani counterpart Badr Albusaidi and his Egyptian counterpart Badr Abdelatty, the Iraqi Foreign Ministry said.

Albusaidi and Hussein discussed “preparations for the upcoming virtual meeting of the Arab League foreign ministers," the ministry said, adding that both sides stressed "the importance of coordinating Arab positions and enhancing joint action in facing current challenges.”

In Hussein's phone call with Abdelatty, both emphasised that "the agenda of the meeting should include multiple issues, not be limited to a single topic, reflecting the magnitude of challenges facing the region," it said.

Hostilities in the region have escalated since US and Israeli strikes on Iran began on Feb 28, with Iran retaliating with repeated drone and missile strikes targeting Israel and Gulf countries hosting US military assets.

-- BERNAMA-ANADOLU