Last week, Iraq’s serving Prime Minister Adil Abdul-Mahdi offered to mediate between Washington and Tehran as escalating tensions threatened to drag Iraq into a regional proxy war.
However, Iran and the United States have expressed an interest in a Japanese-led dialogue, spurning Baghdad’s offer of help.
“The talk of supposed Iraqi mediation between the United States and Iran are nothing beyond rumors circling around in media,” Allawi, an influential Shiite politician who is widely seen as secular, said in a tweet on Thursday.
“According to my knowledge and listening to news, Iraq is trying to create a dialogue atmosphere. It cannot play the role of mediator because that depends on the strength and stability of the country.”
“For it to be able to play this role, it is better for it first to get its house in order, before starting an initiative to fix the situation in the region,” he added.
In an interview with Iraqi channel Al-Sumaria TV earlier this week, Allawi said Iraq is “shaky”.
“Iraq neither has the capability nor is it in a strong position to be able to impose its opinion on Iran or America,” Allawi said.
“The one that is to mediate has to have power, I mean politically, not militarily,” he added.
Allawi served as an Iraqi vice president from 2014 to 2015, and was interim prime minister in the transitional authority between 2004 and 2005. He currently heads the al-Wataniya list in Iraqi parliament, which is widely support by Iraq’s Sunni minority. Collectively they hold about 21 seats.
PM Abdul-Mahdi also admitted on Tuesday that Iraq cannot play the role of the mediator. He instead asserted that Iraq is trying to “pull out the fuse” from the tensions.
“We have mentioned more than once that we aren’t on the verge of mediating. Mediation is for another time. It has other requirements, necessities,” the PM said. Iraq is playing a “positive role” nevertheless, the PM posited.
Mediation is not a “simple thing” and there are “elements” that need to be available for mediation, according to Abdul-Mahdi. “We are removing the fuse of the crisis and finding a more positive atmosphere between the sides,” the PM added, warning an escalation might go out of hand.
Another country, namely Japan, has been touted as a mediator between the US and Iran. Iran has welcomed Japan’s initiative.
“I don’t want to use the term ‘mediation’ and expressing readiness to reduce tension, however we would listen to views of other countries that have good intentions and follow events in the region with concern,” Seyyed Abbas Mousavi, Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesperson, told reporters Tuesday when asked about Abe's visit.
US State Department spokesperson Morgan Ortagus in a briefing to reporters on Wednesday expressed that Washington also welcomed Japanese mediation.
“So we welcome the efforts by any country, whether it’s Japan, whether it’s our European allies to help deescalate the situation. We encourage all of our allies, including Japan, to remind Iran that we do not want to see them get a nuclear weapon, that we do not want to see them fomenting terrorism and paying for terrorism around the world,” Ortagus said.
“And so if the Japanese would like to reiterate that message on our behalf, we certainly welcome it.”
The tensions between Iran and US have been increasing gradually since May 2018, when US President Donald Trump pulled out of the nuclear deal with Iran.
The US claimed that the deal didn’t prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons nor did it rein on its regional adventurism.
Following the pullout, the US president imposed a raft of sanctions that has targeted the banking, oil and metal sector of Iran. As a result, Iran’s already weak economy was crunched further, with the currency devaluating rapidly.
Iran’s oil exports have slumped from 2.5 million bpd of last year to just 400,000 in May.
The US has also sent Navy destroyer ships, an aircraft carrier and accompanying fleet, B-52 bombers, Marines with landing craft, and missile defense systems to the Persian Gulf, citing Iranian threats.
Iran for its part has remained defiant, saying it will not negotiate with the US administration.
Despite the belligerence, both sides have said no to war, with the US president saying he doesn’t wish to hurt Iran.
