15 February 2019•Update: 15 February 2019
By Tolga Akbaba
ANKARA
Iran on Friday blasted this week’s Middle East conference as being "devoid of decision-making and respect," saying its lack of key regional players meant it could only fail.
None of the decision-makers in the region took part in the conference in Warsaw, Poland on Wednesday and Thursday, said Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Ghasemi.
A conference without the participation of region's principal players such as Turkey, Iraq, Lebanon, Palestine as well as China and Russia, cannot be successful, he added.
According to official Iranian news agency IRNA, Ghasemi also said: "On the one hand, the United States is organizing a peace and security in the Middle East conference, [and] on the other hand supporting terrorists in the region, increasing hopelessness, poverty and war among the peoples of the region.
Middle East conference
The meeting, with the participation of 60 countries, was ostensibly aimed at discussing peace and security in the Middle East, the fight against terrorism, and missile development and proliferation.
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Thursday accused Iran of being a “malign influence” in the Middle East, arguing that confronting Tehran is a must for peace and stability in the region.
