Iraq balks at sanctioning Iranian airlines ahead of DC talks: We dont want to be part of this conflict
WASHINGTON — Iraq’s foreign minister called his country “a victim” of the US-Iran war Thursday and said Baghdad is reluctant to agree to American requests to sanction Iranian airlines — making the remarks one day after President Trump announced the withdrawal of US troops from Iraq.“We became a victim of this war — we, Iraq,” foreign minister Fuad Hussein told a small group of reporters at the Iraqi embassy.“Our economy became a victim, but our people also.
We have been attacked many times by various countries in the conflict.”Hussein, visiting Washington to meet with Treasury and State Department leaders, told journalists that “we don’t want to be part of this conflict,” but are willing to help mediate if asked.Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is leading “Operation Economic Outcast” to sever Tehran’s business ties with other countries to increase US leverage, but the senior diplomat expressed resistance to cutting off airlines that are a major source of revenue.“Most of the visitors from Iran to Iraq are coming to the holy places,” Hussein said, ball-parking the annual number of Shiite religious pilgrims to Iraq around 5 million and the number of Iraqi religious pilgrims to Iran around 3 million.“This is one of the most sensitive issues for us because it has to do with the religious [sites],” he said.
“This will create huge problems because at the end it has to do with religious subjects.”Hussein, a longtime Iraqi politician who is both Kurdish and Shiite, said his country is attempting to maintain good relations with both the US and Iran, but holds each responsible for involving his nation in the more than seven-month war.“Iraq has been attacked by the countries in conflict — that means for a while the Americans attacked Iraq, but the Iranians also attacked Iraq,” he said.“We are not part of this war… We are emphasizing on the solution through negotiations and talks but we are not intervening in American poli...