Iran FM sought to 'relay' message to US with Iraq visit, MP claims

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – An Iraqi lawmaker from the al-Bina Alliance on Monday claimed that Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif sought to send a message to its regional rivals and the United States through the Iraqi government during his recent visit to Baghdad.

Noting that Zarif’s visit came just before an Iraqi delegation is due to visit Saudi Arabia and the US, MP Amer al-Fayez told Iraqi media the Iranian diplomat wanted the Iraqi side to “relay a message” to Washington.

Zarif arrived in Baghdad on Saturday. He met with senior Iraqi officials and discussed, during his gathering with Iraq’s President Barham Salih, “the need to prevent war and escalation” between the US and Iran and “adopt a constructive dialogue to consolidate the foundations of peace in the region,” according to a statement from Salih’s office.

The visit comes amid growing tensions between Washington and Tehran, which have sparked public fears of direct or indirect conflict by people in Iran and Iraq.

“War between the two will negatively impact the entire world,” Fayez said.

Bina Alliance is led by Iran-backed coalitions, among them senior Hashd al-Shaabi commander Hadi al-Amiri-led Fatah Coalition. The faction makes up a large portion of the Iraqi Parliament.

Elsewhere, another Iraqi lawmaker said Iraq would remain impartial in a possible US-Iran conflict.

Na’im al-Aboudi from the Fatah Coalition said he believed confrontation was unlikely and “hoped Iraq would be impartial and not get involved,” Alsumaria quoted him as saying.

However, in the event of military escalation, “it is not possible not to interfere,” he added, supposedly supporting their chief backer, Iran.

In that regard, Iraqi Parliament Speaker Mohammed al-Halbousi underlined his country’s readiness to act as a mediator but pointed out the Iranian side had not requested them to take on that role.

“We are ready to mediate a solution to the crisis between Washington and Tehran if we are asked to do so,” Halbousi said.

Editing by Karzan Sulaivany

(Kosar Nawzad contributed to this report)