Iraq must not be an arena for external conflicts, adviser to PM says

BAGHDAD — Iraq must not become a stage for other countries’ conflicts or a place where they settle scores, the prime minister’s security adviser said Tuesday, warning against what he called rhetoric of treason, exclusion and extremism.

“Ideological terrorism begins with denying the right to disagree and may end with spreading hatred and violence and threatening social peace,” Qasim al-Araji wrote on X. The state’s courage “is not measured by the sharpness of its positions, but by the wisdom of its decisions, its ability to confront corruption and extremism, and to safeguard the country’s interests from the repercussions of others’ conflicts, away from emotional reactions and policies of alignment,” he said.

“Iraq today needs, more than ever, an independent national decision that preserves its sovereignty, safeguards its stability and puts the interests of its people above all considerations,” he wrote. “We reiterate that Iraq will not be an arena for others’ conflicts or the settling of their scores, but a sovereign state with its own interests, decisions and standing that must be respected.” He named no country, group or incident.

Araji was national security adviser until June, when Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi removed him in a wider security reshuffle and appointed him to the advisory post he now holds.

His remarks follow a week in which armed factions threatened and then postponed an attack on Saudi Arabia and U.S. bases, and two factions accused the Popular Mobilization Forces leadership of failing to warn its units before U.S. and Saudi aircraft struck PMF sites in seven governorates in late July. The government condemned those strikes as a violation of Iraqi sovereignty. Zaidi has set Sept. 30, when the U.S.-led coalition mission ends, as the point after which armed groups outside state control will have no justification, a policy Kataib Hezbollah, Harakat al-Nujaba and Kataib Sayyid al-Shuhada have rejected.