Iraq rejects US Embassy’s statement on its relation with Iran

The Iraqi Foreign Ministry rejected on Saturday a statement issued by the US embassy in Baghdad in which it called on Tehran to “respect the sovereignty of the Iraqi government and permit the disarming, demobilisation, and reintegration” of Shia militias.

The Iraqi ministry considered the US embassy’s remarks which were posted on Twitter, last week, as “interferences in its internal affairs”.

“With six days to go before the sanctions deadline, this is the 6th requirement for Iran’s regime to behave like a normal state: The Iranian regime must respect the sovereignty of the Iraqi government and permit the disarming, demobilisation, and reintegration of Shia militias” the embassy posted on Twitter.

With 6 days to go before the sanctions deadline, this is the 6th requirement for #Iran’s regime to behave like a normal state: The Iranian regime must respect the sovereignty of the Iraqi government and permit the disarming, demobilization, and reintegration of Shia militias. pic.twitter.com/IRsZR90KmN

— Department of State (@StateDept) October 30, 2018

In response, Foreign Ministry spokesman, Ahmad Mahjoub said the US embassy tweet had crossed “diplomatic norms and mutual respect for states sovereignty as a well-established principle of international law”.

“Iraq rejects interference in its internal issues, especially issues of internal security reform and the status of Iraqi security forces” he added.