Amid the relentless advance of Islamic State militants in Syria and Iraq, the whole Middle East region needs to pitch in to solve the crisis, Joyce Karam, Washington Bureau Chief of Al-Hayat Newspaper told HuffPost Live on Thursday.
In particular, Iran and Saudi Arabia have a shared interest in stability in Iraq and should overcome their differences to halt the Islamic State, formerly known as ISIS, Karam told host Caroline Modarressy-Tehrani.
"We do need a regional wake-up call to deal with the threat and a Iranian-Saudi rapprochement would do a great deal in promoting this," she said.
However, Sinan Ulgen, Chairman of Istanbul's EDAM Think Tank, emphasized that Islamic State can best be countered by a political solution within Iraq.
"Only with an inclusive government in Iraq which is much less focused on sectarian politics can this Sunni insurgency that fuels ISIS extremism be alleviated," Ulgen told HuffPost Live.
"Priority here is given to a political settlement within Iraq because that is really the only tenable, sustainable, permanent or at least effective solution to contain ISIS at this point in time," he added.
To watch the HuffPost Live segment on relations between ISIS and Iraq's bordering nations, click here.
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