Former PM Abdul Mahdi calls Iran-Israel war ‘comprehensive’

BAGHDAD — Former Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi on Friday described the escalating conflict between Iran and Israel as “a long, comprehensive, and cumulative war”.

In a post shared on his official Facebook page, Abdul Mahdi characterized the confrontation as one pitting “a faithful, stubborn, patient, and strong nation” against what he referred to as “a tyrannical, usurping, and vanishing enemy.”

He concluded with a Quranic verse: “And those who have wronged are going to know to what [kind of] return they will be returned”.

His remarks came as Iraq requested an emergency session of the United Nations Security Council following a major Israeli airstrike on Iranian territory. The government condemned the strike as a violation of international law and warned of broader threats to regional and global stability.

Also Friday, influential cleric Muqtada Al-Sadr issued a separate warning, urging that Iraq remain uninvolved in the conflict. “What is important—most important—is that the land of the Infallibles and their holy sites in Iraq remain distant from this war,” Al-Sadr said in a post on social media platform X. “Iraq and its people do not need new wars.”