Iraqi Govt. Spokesman: Calls to Close US Embassy Destroy Iraq

Al-Sadr supporters carry the flags of Iraq and Palestine in a march near the US Embassy in Baghdad on Friday. (AP)
Al-Sadr supporters carry the flags of Iraq and Palestine in a march near the US Embassy in Baghdad on Friday. (AP)
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Iraqi Govt. Spokesman: Calls to Close US Embassy Destroy Iraq

Al-Sadr supporters carry the flags of Iraq and Palestine in a march near the US Embassy in Baghdad on Friday. (AP)
Al-Sadr supporters carry the flags of Iraq and Palestine in a march near the US Embassy in Baghdad on Friday. (AP)

Iraq's government spokesman Bassem al-Awadi said that the proposal to close the US Embassy in Iraq is a decision that could “destroy Iraq”.

In an interview with al-Ahed channel, which is affiliated with Asaib Ahl al-Haq, Awadi said that Iraq has international obligations, and any decision that targets the diplomatic missions would affect Iraq's foreign ties.

He said an earlier government decision to close the Swedish Embassy in Iraq in the wake of the burning of the Quran in Sweden has caused international concern.

Such a proposal would not only affect the framework agreement (signed between Washington and Baghdad) but would also lead to the destruction of Iraq, he added.

Al-Awadi delivering his statements to al-Ahed channel reveals that Qais al-Khazali-led Asaib Ahl al-Haq disagrees with demands to close the US Embassy in Iraq, according to observers.

Issuing this government statement through this channel indicates that it intersects with the Head of the Sadrist movement Moqtada al-Sadr and other armed Shiite factions that have launched attacks on American interests and bases in Iraq and Syria during the past two weeks in response to Washington’s support to Israel.

Al-Sadr called on the Iraqi government and lawmakers on Friday to close the US embassy in Baghdad in response to Washington's unfettered support for Israel.

Some observers believe that al-Sadr meant to embarrass his rivals from the Coordination Framework and the Islamic Resistance groups who control the government and to disclose their claims of being against the American presence in Iraq.

Most of the observers in Baghdad speak about divisions among the Shiite factions and about their stance from targeting the American interests in Iraq. Pragmatic forces, including Asaib Ahl al-Haq, in the Coordination Framework prefer calm and avoiding Iraq’s involvement in a new war.



Trump, Netanyahu Meet Again as Gaps Said to Narrow in Gaza Ceasefire Talks

07 July 2025, US, Washington: US President Donald Trump receives Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speak privately in the Vermeil Room before a dinner at the White House. (Daniel Torok/White House/dpa)
07 July 2025, US, Washington: US President Donald Trump receives Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speak privately in the Vermeil Room before a dinner at the White House. (Daniel Torok/White House/dpa)
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Trump, Netanyahu Meet Again as Gaps Said to Narrow in Gaza Ceasefire Talks

07 July 2025, US, Washington: US President Donald Trump receives Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speak privately in the Vermeil Room before a dinner at the White House. (Daniel Torok/White House/dpa)
07 July 2025, US, Washington: US President Donald Trump receives Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speak privately in the Vermeil Room before a dinner at the White House. (Daniel Torok/White House/dpa)

US President Donald Trump on Tuesday met for a second time in two days with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to discuss Gaza as Trump's Middle East envoy said Israel and Hamas were closing their differences on a ceasefire deal.

Netanyahu arrived at the White House shortly before 5 p.m. EDT for a meeting that was not expected to be open to the press. The two men met for several hours during a dinner at the White House on Monday during the Israeli leader's third US visit since the president began his second term on January 20.

Netanyahu met with Vice President JD Vance and then visited the US Capitol on Tuesday. He told reporters after a meeting with the Republican House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson that while he did not think Israel's campaign in the Palestinian enclave was done, negotiators are "certainly working" on a ceasefire.

"We have still to finish the job in Gaza, release all our hostages, eliminate and destroy Hamas' military and government capabilities," Netanyahu said.

Netanyahu's return to the White House to see Trump on Tuesday pushed back his meeting with US Senate leaders to Wednesday.

Shortly after Netanyahu spoke, Trump's special envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, said the issues keeping Israel and Hamas from agreeing had dropped to one from four and he hoped to reach a temporary ceasefire agreement this week.

"We are hopeful that by the end of this week, we'll have an agreement that will bring us into a 60-day ceasefire. Ten live hostages will be released. Nine deceased will be released," Witkoff told reporters at a meeting of Trump's Cabinet.

The Gaza war erupted when Hamas attacked southern Israel in October 2023, killing around 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages, according to Israeli figures. Some 50 hostages remain in Gaza, with 20 believed to be alive.

Israel's retaliatory war in Gaza has killed over 57,000 Palestinians, according to the enclave's health ministry. Most of Gaza's population has been displaced by the war and nearly half a million people are facing famine within months, according to United Nations estimates.

Trump had strongly supported Netanyahu, even wading into domestic Israeli politics by criticizing prosecutors over a corruption trial against the Israeli leader on bribery, fraud and breach-of-trust charges that Netanyahu denies.

In his remarks to reporters at the US Congress, Netanyahu praised Trump, saying there has never been closer coordination between the US and Israel in his country's history.