Asserting sovereignty? Iraq ministry rejects foreign interference

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Iraq’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Saturday rebuked both the US and Bahrain for perceived interference in Iraqi affairs. It comes as Baghdad seeks to balance its relations with Washington and Tehran and strengthen its standing in the region. 

The spat with Bahrain began when Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, who leads the biggest bloc in the Iraqi parliament, issued a series of suggestions aimed at insulating Iraq from regional conflicts. 

Among the suggestions was stopping the “wars in Yemen, Bahrain and Syria instantly” and calling on their rulers to abdicate. He also called for the Iran-backed Iraqi militias of Hashd al-Shaabi to withdraw from Syria to avoid dragging Iraq into a conflict between Iran and the US and Israel.

Bahrain, which has a large and restive population of Shiite Muslims ruled by a Sunni minority royal family, took exception to Sadr’s words, leading its foreign minister Khalid Bin Ahmad al-Khalifa to brand Sadr “stupid” and, in Arabic verse, liken him to a “dog”. 

“Muqtada expresses his worry over increasing interference in the Iraqi affairs, but instead of placing his finger on Iraq’s wound by directing his words towards the Iranian regime, which controls his country, chose safety and directed his words to Bahrain,” Khalifa said in a tweet Saturday.

“May Allah help Iraq from such stupid autocrats,” he added.

Responding to Khalifa’s comments, the Iraqi foreign ministry fired back, rejecting the claim that Iraq is controlled by Iran.

“The words of the Bahraini foreign minister, who represents Bahraini diplomacy, are abusive to Mr. Muqtada al-Sadr with bad words, totally unacceptable in diplomatic norms, and also abusive to Iraq and its sovereignty and independence, especially when the Bahraini minister speaks of Iraq being under the control of the neighbor Iran,” the Iraqi foreign ministry said in a statement.

“Today Iraq is recovering and getting stronger, and it will not accept any interference in its affairs, and it won’t accept abuse to its national and religious symbols,” it added, demanding an apology.

Running with the theme of Iraqi sovereignty, the ministry then turned its ire on the US Embassy in Baghdad, which had published a social media post attacking Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. 

On April 25, the US Embassy in Baghdad posted an image of Khamenei on its Facebook wall alongside the words: “The faces of the corrupt Iranian regime,” accusing him of “misusing power”.

“The possessions of the current supreme leader Ali Khamenei alone are estimated at $200 billion, while many people languish in poverty because of the dire economic situation in Iran after 40 years of rule by the mullahs,” the embassy post read.

Responding to the post on Saturday, the Iraqi foreign ministry accused the embassy of “trespassing diplomatic norms” of foreign missions in host countries.

“A diplomatic mission working in Iraq publishing posts that target one of the neighboring countries of Iraq, its religious or political symbols, runs counter to the principles of the Iraqi constitution,” the ministry said.

“We call on the American embassy to delete the abusive post and abstain from publishing such things in the future.”

Both foreign ministry statements are indicative of Iraq’s wish to break its image as a puppet of foreign powers and assert its own independent foreign relations in the region and the wider world. 

However, despite the claims of the foreign ministry, Iraq’s political, economic, religious, and military life is tightly bound up in the affairs of its Iranian neighbour.  

From the overthrow of Saddam Hussein in 2003 until the election of the present technocratic government of Prime Minister Adil Abdul-Mahdi in 2018, Iraqi politics has been dominated by pro-Iran Shiite parties. 

This close relationship, developed further by Iranian involvement in the war against the Islamic State (ISIS), has been placed under the spotlight since the US resumed economic sanctions and political pressure on Iran.  

US President Donald Trump withdrew from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal in May 2018, arguing the agreement did not go far enough in preventing Iran from developing nuclear capabilities, ballistic missile technology, and from interfering in regional affairs. 

Although pressure on Iran has encouraged Iraq to develop its relations with other powers, particularly wealthy states like Saudi Arabia able to fund its post-war reconstruction, Iraq nevertheless sees its special relationship with Tehran as a “blessing”. 

Baghdad has even opposed the recent US decision to designate Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a foreign terrorist organization. 

Iraq is weak, battered by decades of war, sanctions, and corruption. Were it stronger, Baghdad could be pickier about which states it would like to foster relations with and which it might choose to alienate.