Iran

Wrong US polices to blame for Iraq troubles: Iran official

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A senior Iranian official has slammed recent remarks by a top US military commander on Iraq’s disintegration, saying Washington’s wrong policies are to blame for the conflict in the Arab country.

“The US interventions and wrong policies in the region and Iraq are the culprits in the emergence of serious problems in this country,” Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, the deputy foreign minister for Arab and African affairs, said on Friday, stressing that Iraq’s disintegration would further escalate the crisis in the Arab country.

The Iranian official’s remarks came after US Army Chief of Staff General Raymond Odierno, who once served as the top US commander in Iraq, said on Wednesday that partitioning Iraq “is something that could happen” and “might be the only solution.”

US Army Chief of Staff General Ray Odierno speaks at the Pentagon on August 12, 2015. © AFP

 

Amir-Abdollahian once again reaffirmed the Islamic Republic’s support for “Iraq’s national unity and territorial integrity” and described the US general’s remarks as “provocative” and against peace in the Arab country.

“Iraq’s political system has been clearly defined based on the country’s constitution, and the remarks by the high-ranking US military official are provocative, against the path towards peace and security in Iraq and the region, and are even in contravention of the policies of politicians in his country,” Amir-Abdollahian said.

The Iranian official said that the Iraqi people along with political and religious leaders in the country can well solve their own problems if there is a strong global determination to battle terrorism.

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi also on Thursday strongly condemned the comments by the top US military commander as “irresponsible,” saying they reflected “ignorance of the Iraqi reality.”

In this photo taken on August 6, 2015, Iraqi Army soldiers prepare to bomb Daesh positions at the front line in the eastern suburbs of Ramadi in Anbar province. © AFP

 

Divisive US bill

The remarks came as a controversial US Congress bill, the draft of which was released in April, proposes the division of Iraq into three states and allows the Kurdish forces and the Sunni tribesmen to be armed directly without Baghdad’s approval.

The bill stipulates that 25 to 60 percent of the USD 715-million aid money allegedly allocated to Iraq in its war against Daesh will be directly supplied to Sunni and Kurdish forces.

Iraqi politicians, including members of the parliament, as well as religious leaders have voiced their opposition to the bill.

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