New Zealand to close embassy in Baghdad, move 'Iraq assignments' to another country

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – New Zealand is set to close its embassy in the Iraqi capital Baghdad, and transfer the tasks related to Iraq to its embassy in the UAE capital, Abu Dhabi.

“This decision to permanently close the embassy was not taken lightly and is in no way an indication of any change in the value that New Zealand places on its relationship with Iraq,” Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters said in a statement on Tuesday.

New Zealand opened its embassy in Baghdad in 2015 to support the deployment of New Zealand forces as part of efforts to combat terrorism through the international coalition. However, the last 45 soldiers posted at the camp were withdrawn in March, and “it is primary rationale” for having the embassy removed, Peters said.

“Despite the closure of the embassy, ​​our firm commitment to the international struggle against terrorism remains,” the foreign affairs minister said, pointing out that New Zealand would continue to contribute to the war against the Islamic State, through limited military missions within the international coalition in addition to providing stability financing to Iraq.

According to New Zealand media, the embassy will be permanently closed at the end of this month.

Last summer, New Zealand announced that it planned to withdraw its forces from Iraq in the summer of 2020.

Since 2015, the country has deployed some 140 personnel alongside Australian forces to provide military training to Iraqi forces in the fight against the so-called Islamic State at Camp Taji, north of Baghdad.

Over the past few years, military trainers from New Zealand and Australia have together trained over 30,000 Iraqi forces to fight the terror group.

Editing by Karzan Sulaivany