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ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The Iraqi Foreign Ministry on Saturday rejected US interference in its affairs after the Washington embassy in Baghdad issued a statement calling on neighboring Iran to respect Iraq's sovereignty and to to allow the demobilization of Iranian-backed Shiite militias.
In a tweet published Tuesday on Twitter from the US embassy in Baghdad, the mission said that Iran "must respect the sovereignty of the Iraqi government and allow the disarmament, demobilization and reintegration" of Shiite militias.
It was one of many tweets published by the US diplomatic mission highlighting Washington's demands for new sanctions, which are expected to come into effect on November 4 on Iran's energy and financial sectors.
The embargoes concerned Iraq, which relies heavily on Iran to import food and gas.
"The Ministry wishes to emphasize that the second part of this statement goes beyond diplomatic norms and mutual respect for the sovereignty of States as a well-established principle of international law," said the spokesman of the Iraqi Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Foreign Affairs, Ahmed Mahjoub.
He also noted that he "refused any interference in the internal affairs of Iraq, especially the internal security reforms", and asked the US embassy in Baghdad to remove the post published on social media.
Since the fall of the authoritarian system in Iraq in 2003, the United States and Iran have been competing to extend their influence over Iraq.
Iraqi Shiite militias have been heavily involved in the fight against ISIS and have been formally integrated into the Iraqi security apparatus. A large number of militias are pro-Iranian and Washington has repeatedly called for disarmament.
Iraqi officials have recently said that Baghdad would receive a waiver of US sanctions, which would allow Iraq to continue to import food, gas and other sources of petrol. energy from Iran.
Edited by Nadia Riva
