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Ammar Al-Hakim: Iraq will not remain silent to the sanctions imposed on Iran

August 23, 2018 at 4:15 am

Leader of the National Wisdom Movement in Iraq, a Shiite party, Ammar Al-Hakim in Baghdad, Iraq [Murtadha Sudani/Anadolu Agency]

The leader of the National Wisdom Movement in Iraq, a Shiite party, Ammar Al-Hakim, said on Wednesday that Iraq would not bear the consequences of US sanctions imposed on Iran.

During Eid Al-Adha prayer Al-Hakim said the Iraqi government’s declaration, about its commitment to US sanctions imposed on Iran, is “dangerous”.

“It is difficult to imagine that Iraq will not be affected in case the Islamic Republic of Iran was exposed to the problems and complications brought by its conflict with the United States of America. It is also difficult for the Islamic Republic to imagine that it would not be affected in case Iraq witnessed successive economic, political, or security crisis. It is the same case for Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and other Iraqi neighbouring countries.”

Al-Hakim called on Iraqi politicians to find common ground on which American and Iranian interests would meet together away from the policy of sanctions and threats that will only bring more wars and destruction to the region.  He stressed that “we will not allow anything to endanger the interests of our country. We put it clearly and without fear of anyone.”

Read: Iraq to ask US for exemptions on some Iran sanctions

We cannot remain indifferent in case the economic sanctions against the Iranian people are exacerbated. We Iraqis are very much aware of the drastic effects of the economic blockade, for we have experienced it in the 1990s. Making people starve for the aim of influencing political regimes is an inhumane policy. The interests of Iraq cannot be fulfilled through the logic of conflict and sanctions.

“We are well aware of the consequences of non-compliance with the financial constraints imposed on countries with a rent-seeking economy such as Iraq’s, unfortunately,” Al-Hakim said.

Iraqi Shiites celebrate the first day of Eid Al-Adha on Wednesday, in contrast to Saudi Arabia and all Arab countries that marked the first day of Eid on Tuesday.