Iraq’s foreign minister says country is ‘in the battlefield’ of war it has not joined

BAGHDAD — Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein said Tuesday that Iraq has effectively become part of the regional war despite no official decision to join it, describing the country as a battlefield caught between Iranian and American strikes.

“Officially we are not part of the war, but in reality we are in the battlefield, because the geography of the war has expanded,” Hussein said in a televised interview. “There are attacks from Iran on Iraq, and from the United States on Iraq, and for this I say, as an Iraqi arena, that we entered the war without having a decision to enter it.”

Hussein was candid about Iraq’s loss of control over the internal situation. “I cannot say that the factions made Iraq part of the war, but the lack of control over the internal situation led to action and reaction,” he said, while rejecting the idea that armed factions hold the decision of war and peace. “It is not correct that the armed factions possess the decision of war and peace in Iraq. Their announcement that they see themselves as part of the war does not mean that the decision of war and peace is taken by them.”

He acknowledged the diplomatic damage caused by cross-border attacks, saying strikes on Gulf countries launched from Iraqi territory “embarrassed us a lot in front of them, especially in the Foreign Ministry.” He said security incidents had driven diplomatic missions to reduce their presence or leave entirely, particularly after the attack on Al-Rasheed Hotel, where six official delegations were staying.

Hussein also reiterated Iraq’s official position. “We were and still are against the attacks on Iran, as there is no international decision to start the war, and Iraq’s official position is against this war,” he said.