Media Monitor

Advisors to PM stress balance and diplomacy as Iraqi response to conflict in the region

BAGHDAD — Fadi al-Shammari, political advisor to Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani, stated in an interview with Dijlah TV that Iraq is navigating a delicate balance amid regional pressures, affirming that the government is firmly opposed to the military option in the resistance. 

Meanwhile, in a separate interview with Al Iraqiya TV, Ibrahim Al-Sumaidaie, another advisor to Al-Sudani, said that the new regional map in the area “is happening whether we like it or not.” He warned that “the fallen are gone, don’t let us fall.” He stated that Iraq is an ‘unarmed state’ and cannot do anything beyond diplomatic and political options due to clear Western superiority.

Excerpts from Al-Shammari’s interview with Dijlah TV:

There are mechanisms and institutions responsible for making Iraq’s foreign decisions. The government, backed by the Coordination Framework and the State Administration Coalition, is responsible for these decisions. Najaf serves as the compass in this matter, and the government is trying to walk a fine line of balance. This line will withstand the current pressures, God willing.

There is no unified decision or consensus within the armed factions regarding the option of military action. Some factions adopt this option and have been making more realistic decisions recently to align with the vision of the official decision-making institutions in Iraq.

We do not align with the option of military action by the armed factions. It is against the Shia and national consensus. However, we have the ability to resolve this disagreement through dialogue. Our vision revolves around diplomatic work to reach an understanding with the United States regarding its military presence in Iraq. This path led us to the recent historic agreement on the withdrawal of forces next year.

Iraq is currently situated in a region that resembles a sea of crises. We are striving to be the party that extinguishes the fires in the region to avoid repeating what we have experienced over the past fifty years.

Some want to invest in our distinguished relations with Iran and Turkey due to our partnership in the Development Road. Others seek to invest in our partnership with the United States, which officially recognizes us as a partner. There is an international and regional understanding of Iraq’s complexity. It is understood that Iraq is not just a resistance axis, and not all of Iraq is against the resistance axis. However, we need to refine this understanding to play the role of a mediator state between conflicting parties.

Excerpts from Al-Sumaidaie’s interview with Al Iraqiya:

We want to prevent Iraq from being dragged into the ongoing war in the region. We are weaker economically and militarily than Iran and Turkey.

As for Iran, it invented the policy of strategic patience to avoid slipping into war, even though the whole world knows that Netanyahu is moving forward with escalation, because stopping the war would mean his political prosecution within Israel.

As part of Israel’s arm-breaking policy, it is possible that strikes could be carried out inside Iraq, as Israel has previously struck Lebanon and Yemen, in an effort to avoid direct confrontation with Iran, despite the precise strikes Israel received during the recent attack.

I fear that Israel may carry out its response in Iraq, as it has not obtained full American approval to strike Iran, especially if no diplomatic agreement is reached through U.S. mediation with Iran, in which Iran accepts a calculated and agreed-upon strike to restore strategic deterrence balance between them. Therefore, the scenario of Israel breaking its rules with America inside Iraq seems most likely.

Frankly, we only have political and diplomatic options, because we lack all the elements of full strategic deterrence. Even the Russian S-400 systems did not prevent Ukrainian drones from striking the Kremlin, as there is significant Western technological superiority.

The Iraqi government is making great efforts within the framework of diplomatic options, despite being undermined by some brothers, some of whom are undermining Sudani, even though he defends them externally with the Americans to prevent any strikes inside Iraq.

We are an unarmed state, and all political forces within the system are aware of the capabilities of the Iraqi state. We fully respect the positions of the brothers in the factions and their honorable defense of the Palestinian cause, but there are other fronts that can be worked on.

All the wars happening in the world are repercussions of the U.S.-China economic war. Russia was kept busy with a war against Ukraine, and the Zionist entity was pushed to play its historic role in defending Western interests in the region, so that no arena would be left for China to exploit. ‘The fallen are gone,’ so don’t let us fall.

All the Americans want is for us to be an economic zone not subject to Russian military influence or Chinese economic influence, and to operate within the American vision where there is no presence of ‘non-state actors.’ This world is ruled by states, not armed groups, and the majority of the political forces supported by the religious authority are aligned with this approach.