Iraqi PM: Iraq Will Not Be Ground for Settling Accounts

Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi receives US Ambassador Matthew H. Tueller, Iraqi government agencies
Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi receives US Ambassador Matthew H. Tueller, Iraqi government agencies
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Iraqi PM: Iraq Will Not Be Ground for Settling Accounts

Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi receives US Ambassador Matthew H. Tueller, Iraqi government agencies
Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi receives US Ambassador Matthew H. Tueller, Iraqi government agencies

Iraq’s newly appointed prime minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi met with US Ambassador Matthew H. Tueller and Iranian Ambassador Iraj Masjedi.

Kadhimi discussed bilateral relations, including cooperation and coordination, with Tueller.

He also ruled out Iraq as the ground for "settling accounts" by the US and its rival Iran.

During his meeting with Tueller, Kadhimi underscored the need for bilateral cooperation in the economic and security fields, as well as for preparing for the strategic dialogue between the two countries, the prime minister's media office said in a statement.

Kadhimi’s meeting with Tuller comes at a time Baghdad and Washington are preparing for a strategic dialogue, slotted for mid-June, about the future of US presence in Iraq. Iraqi parties close to Iran have been demanding the US withdraws its forces from Iraq.

Kadhimi also asserted the need to maintain security and stability in the region, while reiterating that Iraq will not be a ground for settling accounts and launching attacks on any neighboring or friendly country, the statement said.

Tueller congratulated Kadhimi for taking office after gaining the confidence of the Iraqi parliament, confirming the US readiness to support Iraq in all aspects, particularly in the economic field and in containing the COVID-19 spread, the statement added.

During his meeting with Masjedi, Kadhimi confirmed Iraq's keenness to maintain the best relations with all neighboring countries to serve regional security and stability, Kadhimi's media office said in a separate statement.

“Kadhimi stressed that Iraq will not be a passage or hotbed for terrorism against any country or a ground for settling accounts,” the statement said.

Kadhimi's comments came amid the rising tensions between Iran and the U.S. on the Iraqi soil, since the US assassination of Qassem Soleimani, commander of the Quds Force of Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps, and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, deputy chief of Iraq's paramilitary Hashd Shaabi forces, in a drone attack near Iraqi capital Baghdad in January.

The Iranian-backed militias have frequently attacked Iraqi military bases housing US troops across Iraq as well as the US embassy inside the heavily fortified Green Zone in central Baghdad.



Syria Welcomes UN Resolution to Investigate Human-rights Violations

A view shows Umayyad Square, after the ouster of Syria's Bashar al-Assad, in Damascus, Syria, January 18, 2025. REUTERS/Yamam Al Shaar/File Photo
A view shows Umayyad Square, after the ouster of Syria's Bashar al-Assad, in Damascus, Syria, January 18, 2025. REUTERS/Yamam Al Shaar/File Photo
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Syria Welcomes UN Resolution to Investigate Human-rights Violations

A view shows Umayyad Square, after the ouster of Syria's Bashar al-Assad, in Damascus, Syria, January 18, 2025. REUTERS/Yamam Al Shaar/File Photo
A view shows Umayyad Square, after the ouster of Syria's Bashar al-Assad, in Damascus, Syria, January 18, 2025. REUTERS/Yamam Al Shaar/File Photo

Syria welcomed a United Nations resolution on Friday to investigate violations and improve the country's human-rights record following the 13-year civil war waged by former President Bashar al-Assad's regime.
The resolution, which calls for Syria’s new government to support inquiries into crimes committed during the conflict that started in 2011, passed without opposition at the Human Rights Council in Geneva on Friday.
It indicates a shift in support by the 47 country members of the council toward Syria's new government and its efforts to improve its rights record.
"Such international support serves as a strong incentive to continue the path of reform," Syria's ambassador to the UN in Geneva, Haydar Ali Ahmad, told the council.
Opposition factions led by the now president of the new transitional government, Ahmed al-Sharaa, seized the capital Damascus in December. Assad fled to Russia, following the 13 years of civil war that led to the disappearance of more than 100,000 people and the use of torture and chemical weapons by the regime.
Under pressure to show that it is turning a new page from the former regime, Syria's new government welcomed the resolution on Friday.
"We are proud of Syria's positive and constructive participation in drafting the resolution for the first time," Syria Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shibani said in a statement posted on X.
Members of the council welcomed Syria's engagement on Friday and urged it to uphold the resolution's commitments, including the Commission of Inquiry into serious crimes since the start of the war.
British Ambassador to the UN Simon Manley said the killing of hundreds of Alwaite civilians - the minority sect from which toppled leader Bashir al-Assad hails - in March was a "chilling reminder of the deep wounds" from the conflict, and the need for justice and accountability.