UN Warns Against ‘Unlawful’ Acts to Derail Iraq’s Elections

Secretary-General Special Representative and Head of the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) Jeanine Plasschaert (EPA)
Secretary-General Special Representative and Head of the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) Jeanine Plasschaert (EPA)
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UN Warns Against ‘Unlawful’ Acts to Derail Iraq’s Elections

Secretary-General Special Representative and Head of the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) Jeanine Plasschaert (EPA)
Secretary-General Special Representative and Head of the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) Jeanine Plasschaert (EPA)

The UN has warned of any unlawful attempts to prolong or discredit the electoral results process in Iraq or alter them through intimidation and pressure.

During a videoconference briefing to the Security Council, the Secretary-General's Special Representative and head of the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI), Jeanine Plasschaert, said that the elections were held under Iraq’s 2005 constitution, and there is much for “Iraqis to be proud of in this election.”

Plasschaert noted that “I cannot overstate, these elections were hard-earned. Let us not forget, the October elections emerged from an unprecedented wave of country-wide demonstrations in 2019.”

She recalled that the demonstrations were marked by violence, excessive use of force, abductions, and targeted killings, resulting in hundreds of deaths and thousands of injuries.

“There is no denying it: elections and their outcomes can provoke strong feelings. That goes for any democracy across the globe. And Iraq is no different. Depending on where one stands, emotions can run high.”

The UN official warned that if such feelings and debates give way to undemocratic impulses - such as disinformation, baseless accusations, intimidation, threats of violence, or worse - then sooner or later, “the door is opened to acts that are simply intolerable.”

She pointed out that some parties rejected the electoral results and began demonstrations and sit-ins.

Plasschaert referred to the assassination attempt on Prime Minister Mustafa Kadhimi, saying it was a direct attack on the state. She described it as a “heinous act, and one which can only be condemned in the strongest of terms.”

“To ease tensions, calm, restraint, and dialogue are the only way forward.”

She indicated that results would only be final after the Federal Supreme Court ratification, which takes place once the Electoral Judicial Panel has adjudicated on those appeals brought before it.

The Panel is finalizing its work, and the Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC) is conducting a further examination of over 800 polling stations.

“I can only say that further patience will have to be exercised.”

The representative stressed that any unlawful attempts to prolong or discredit the electoral results process, or worse: to alter the electoral results through intimidation and pressure, can only backfire, and “I call on all stakeholders not to go down that path.”

Iraq’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Mohammed Hussein Bahr al-Uloom, noted that the IHEC accepted the request of certain parties to conduct a recount and tabulation of several polling stations before the adjudication of results by the competent judicial authorities.

He stressed that the Federal Supreme Court would have the final say regarding the election results.

Bahr al-Uloom outlined steps taken by Iraq to address concerns, including implementing a national counter-terrorism strategy, enacting a law to address the adverse effects of ISIS against Yazidis and other communities, and the recent repatriation of 441 Iraqis stranded at the al-Hol camp.

He also voiced his rejection of Iraq’s territory being used by those seeking to settle political scores through the pretext of fighting terrorism.



UN Says 875 Palestinians Have Been Killed Near Gaza Aid Sites

Destroyed buildings in the Gaza Strip are pictured at sunset from a position across the border in southern Israel on July 15, 2025. (AFP)
Destroyed buildings in the Gaza Strip are pictured at sunset from a position across the border in southern Israel on July 15, 2025. (AFP)
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UN Says 875 Palestinians Have Been Killed Near Gaza Aid Sites

Destroyed buildings in the Gaza Strip are pictured at sunset from a position across the border in southern Israel on July 15, 2025. (AFP)
Destroyed buildings in the Gaza Strip are pictured at sunset from a position across the border in southern Israel on July 15, 2025. (AFP)

The UN rights office said on Tuesday it had recorded at least 875 killings within the past six weeks at aid points in Gaza run by the US- and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation and convoys run by other relief groups, including the United Nations.

The majority of those killed were in the vicinity of Gaza Humanitarian Foundation sites, while the remaining 201 were killed on the routes of other aid convoys.

The GHF uses private US security and logistics companies to get supplies into Gaza, largely bypassing a UN-led system that Israel alleges has let Hamas-led fighters loot aid shipments intended for civilians. Hamas denies the allegation.

The GHF, which began distributing food packages in Gaza in late May after Israel lifted an 11-week aid blockade, previously told Reuters that such incidents have not occurred on its sites and accused the UN of misinformation, which it denies.

The GHF did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the latest UN figures.

"The data we have is based on our own information gathering through various reliable sources, including medical human rights and humanitarian organizations," Thameen Al-Kheetan, a spokesperson for the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, told reporters in Geneva.

The United Nations has called the GHF aid model "inherently unsafe" and a violation of humanitarian impartiality standards.

The GHF said on Tuesday it had delivered more than 75 million meals to Gaza Palestinians since the end of May, and that other humanitarian groups had "nearly all of their aid looted" by Hamas or criminal gangs.

The Israeli army previously told Reuters in a statement that it was reviewing recent mass casualties and that it had sought to minimize friction between Palestinians and the Israeli army by installing fences and signs and opening additional routes.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs has previously cited instances of violent pillaging of aid, and the UN World Food Program said last week that most trucks carrying food assistance into Gaza had been intercepted by "hungry civilian communities".