Presidency of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad visited Ankara to reinforce relations with Turkey immediately after the 2007 NIE report was released. Relations were briefly strained after President Abdullah Gul had stated that he wants the atomic threat to be eliminated from the region, perhaps a hint to Iran; however, business has remained cordial between the two countries. Despite US disapproval, they signed a multibillion-dollar gas pipeline deal in late 2007. Iran's relations with the Arab states have been complex, partly due to the Islamic Revolution of decades ago, as well as more recent efforts by the United States to establish a united front against Iran over
Asya Abdullah councils. She was elected as co-chair of the PYD in June 2012 and led the party with Salih Muslim until September 2017. As PYD co-chair, Abdullah represented Rojava in the context of the Syrian Civil War. In an interview, Abdullah declared that “No solution will be found through violence” but that “The formation of the cantons and the construction of democratic autonomy is providing an example for the peoples of the country.” In November 2016, Abdullah gave a keynote speech to the New World Summit in Oslo, describing the revolutionary “Rojava experiment". Abdullah also represented the PYD at a meeting