Russia urges all sides in Iraq to act responsibly and refrain from violence

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) - We are calling on all Iraqi sides to show restraint and refrain from violence, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in a statement on Tuesday.

Russia urged all sides in Iraq to act responsibly and refrain from violence amid the deadly clashes that happened in Baghdad last week.

“Moscow has been keeping a close watch on the domestic political situation in Iraq, where mass protests around Baghdad have been raging since late July,” said Zakharova.

Commenting on last week’s clashes in Baghdad’s green zone and some of the southern Iraqi cities that left more than 25 people dead and several hundred injured, Zakharova said the events "resulted from the still unresolved differences between major political forces in Iraq over the issue of forming a government following the early parliamentary election held in October 2021."

"We believe that all pressing issues on the national agenda should be settled by the Iraqis themselves exclusively within the legal framework with the legitimate interests of all ethnic groups of the country’s population taken into account," said the Russian diplomat.

The “resignation” of the firebrand Shiite cleric, Moqtada Al-Sadr from political affairs, has thrown the country into uncertainty amid a months-long political stalemate.

Read More: Sadr quits politics, closes movement’s institutions and media platforms

The cleric's followers stormed Baghdad’s high-security Green Zone, where the government buildings and diplomatic representatives are located.

After tearing down the concrete walls separating the political elite from the rest of the capital, the Sadrists soon reached one of the palaces belonging to the Council of Ministers. For weeks, the cleric's supporters have staged a sit-in near the country’s parliament after occupying the legislature for a while.

Among many slogans being chanted, the angry protestors were repeating, “the people want the fall of the regime.”

The renewed protests came as the country is already in a deep political crisis following nine months of futile attempts by rivals to form a government.