Jordan was hosting a Middle East summit on Tuesday, bringing together regional and international players hoping to help resolve regional crises, particularly in neighbouring Iraq. The “Baghdad II” meeting, which also includes officials from France and the European Union, follows an August 2021 summit in Iraq’s capital organised at the initiative of French President Emmanuel Macron. Iraq only recently arrived at a fragile compromise government after a year of political stalemate. The summit, held at Sweimeh on the shores of the Dead Sea, was aimed at providing “support for the stability, security and prosperity of Iraq”, the French presidency said in a statement, adding it hoped this would benefit “the entire region”. The meeting takes place as several countries in the region are mired in unrest. Syria remains a battleground for competing geopolitical interests and Lebanon is stuck in an economic and political quagmire. For over three months, Iran has bloodily suppressed a wave of popular demonstrations sparked by the September 16 death in custody of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian woman of Kurdish origin. The meeting was also being attended by the EU’s top diplomat, Josep Borrell, who has been mediating talks aimed at reviving the 2015 Iran nuclear deal. Borrell met with Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian on Tuesday ahead of the summit’s official launch.