Iraq summons Iranian ambassador to Baghdad over anti-U.S. comments
Iraqi Foreign Ministry has summoned the Iranian Ambassador to Baghdad over his comments threatening the US forces in the country earlier last week.
Spokesperson for the Iraqi Defense Ministry, Tahsin al-Khafaji, denounced the anti-U.S. comments, saying that "Iraq will not be a starting point for attacks on Iran, nor will it allow the US interests on its territory to be threatened."
On Wednesday, Abdulkarim al-Hashemi, Deputy Foreign Minister, reportedly expressed Iraq’s rejection toward any threats, adding that the US forces are in the country as part of an agreement between Baghdad and Washington to provide military training and advice to the armed forces.
Hashemi also said that Baghdad does not allow any country to use Iraq as a battlefield for their conflicts, "neither neighboring countries nor world countries."
Previously, Ambassador Iraj Mesjedi accused the US intervention within Iraq’s internal affairs and the Middle East and threatened saying “If the US attacked Iran, we will respond strongly and bombard the American presence in Iraq or anywhere else.”
