
In a veiled warning to the US, President Barham Salih of Iraq says his country’s soil will not be a “starting point” for any action against its neighbors, two days after Washington blacklisted an elite Iranian military force, which greatly contributed to the collapse of the Takfiri Daesh terror group in the Arab country.
Salih made the remarks in a meeting on Thursday with Iranian
Ambassador to Iraq Iraj Masjedi in Baghdad, where the two sides exchanged views
on bilateral ties and other issues of mutual interest, according to a
statement by Iraq’s Presidential Office.
During the talks, Salih praised Iran for backing Iraqi armed forces in their
counter-terrorism battles, which led to the fall of Daesh in the Arab country
in late 2017.
The Iraqi president also “stressed that Iraq would not accept to be a
starting point for any action that would harm its neighbors or strain the
regional situation,” underlining the need for mitigating tensions in the
already-troubled region.
Salih further expressed “Iraq’s keenness to be an arena for convergence of
interests of the countries and peoples of the region.”
The Iranian envoy, in turn, said the Islamic Republic wants close
Tehran-Baghdad cooperation and continues to stand by the Iraqi nation in all
arenas, according to the statement.
Masjedi also briefed Salih on US President Donald Trump’s hostile decision on
April 8 to label Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) as a
“foreign terrorist organization.”
In a swift tit-for-tat move, Iran’s Supreme National Security Council (SNSC)
slammed the US government as supporter of terrorism, and designated American
forces in West Asia, known as the United States Central Command (CENTCOM),
as a terrorist organization.
Washington’s unprecedented move sparked criticism from several countries around
the world, which say blacklisting another country’s military runs counter to
international regulations and could lead to further instability in the restive
Middle East region.
Inside Iraq, a number of political factions as well as the
Popular Mobilization Forces, which had received advisory assistance from Iran’s
IRGC in the course of their fight against Daesh, denounced the designation.
Prior to talks with Masjedi, Salih had sat down with Kenneth McKenzie,
CENTCOM’s commander, at the Presidential Palace in Baghdad on Wednesday, where
he called for efforts to reduce tensions in the region.
Military advisors with the IRGC’s Quds Force — led by Major General
Qassem Soleimani — rushed to the help of Iraqi army forces and allied
volunteer fighters at Baghdad’s request in 2014, when Daesh first unleashed its
campaign of terror in the Arab country and made sweeping territorial gains
there.
Backed by Iran, Iraqi forces managed to undo Daesh’s gains and liberate the
entire country from the clutches of the world’s most notorious terror group
three years later.
Hadi al-Ameri, the head of Iraq’s Badr Organization — a part of the Popular
Mobilization Forces — once credited Tehran and Soleimani with saving the
Baghdad government when Daesh emerged in Iraq.
Baghdad had delivered similar warnings to the US earlier this year
after Trump angered Iraqis by announcing that American forces must remain
in Iraq despite the defeat of Daesh so Washington can keep a close eye on
Iran.
Iraq ‘told of Iran’s expectation from friends’
Besides Salih, Masjedi also met with Chairman of the Islamic Supreme Council of
Iraq Ammar Hakim and ex-president Fuad Masum.
Commenting on his discussions with Iraqi officials on Thursday, Masjedi told
reporters that he took the opportunity to convey Tehran’s stance on
Washington’s “unwise” and “stupid” move against the IRGC.
Iran is “surprised that the fate of a country like the United States has
fallen into the hands of an individual who is committed to no policies or
regulations.”
“It was necessary for us to let the Iraqi side and our friends know about
our views and stance as well as our expectation from them,” the
Iranian diplomat added.