Iraqi President Abdullatif al-Rashid described as “positive” US President Donald Trump’s commitment to peace, saying it was a step forward “in resolving conflicts in the world and Middle East.”
Al-Rashid sat down for an interview with Asharq Al-Awsat on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos to discuss the Iran’s “very exaggerated” impact on the armed factions in Iraq, the developments in Syria and the need for the international community to find radical solutions to detention camps in Iraq that are holding terrorists from different nationalities.
Trump’s return
Rashid welcomed Trump’ reelection as president, saying Iraq enjoys “good ties with the US.”
“We thank the Americans for standing by our side in fighting the ISIS terrorist group. Their forces are still deployed in Iraq,” he went on to say.
Rashid, who had sent a message of congratulations to Trump on his return to office, said the latter has repeatedly said that he wanted to help in ending wars in the region and the world and for security and peace to prevail across the globe.
“This is a positive step for everyone,” he remarked.
On the Iraqi army’s readiness in facing terrorist threats after the US troop withdrawal in 2026, Rashid said the threats in his country had dropped.
“Iraq is now free of terrorist activity. Some ISIS pockets and other terrorist elements remain, but this is the case in nearly all countries in the world,” he explained.
As for the American troops, he said they remain in Iraq in line with bilateral agreements, the request of the Iraqi government and in coordination and consultation with political forces that are the foundations of parliament.
The forces take part in the formation of the executive authority and in choosing a president and members of parliament, he continued.
‘Exaggerated’ Iranian influence
Turning to Iran, Rashid said that talk of Iran’s influence on the Iraqi armed factions is “very exaggerated.”
“These factions are under the control of the Iraqi government. With the war on Gaza over, I believe the factions realized that there is no need to turn to their weapons or join the fight, especially now that the ceasefire has taken effect,” he added.
“The government now wants to impose its control over the armed factions according to measures and mechanisms that are being devised by the relevant authorities with the goal of putting an end to any combat activity,” he revealed.
On Iran, he described it as an “important country.”
“We enjoy good ties with it, but we are the ones who decide things in Iraq. We are not under the control of any country,” Rashid stressed.
“This is the culmination of a long struggle that was led by the Iraqi people. We fought against dictatorship for a long time, perhaps more than any other country in the region. We have also long suffered from terrorism. Before that, we suffered from the economic siege,” he stated.
“Today, however, security and stability have been restored to Iraq. We are not only trying to improve our relations with our neighbors, but we are also strengthening them. We are also trying to bridge gaps between countries in the region to serve the interests of all parties,” he continued.
“We live in a historic region. It boasts more resources than any other region in neighboring countries, so we must take advantage of what we have been blessed with. We must enjoy peace and security and concern ourselves in resolving problems of neighboring countries,” he told Asharq Al-Awsat.
Security concerns
Rashid confirmed that Iraq has security concerns over the developments in neighboring Syria.
Before elaborating on what they are, Rashid recalled Iraq’s attempts to support stability in Syria.
“We tried several times during Bashar al-Assad's time in power to help in coming up with solutions to reach a settlement in Syria. Syria is important to the Middle East and it shares borders with several regional countries,” he noted.
“Bashar’s regime, unfortunately, did not invest in our efforts,” he lamented. “We had backed Syria’s return to the Arab League and tried to bridge differences between the regime and various factions.”
Rashid reminded that Iraq never severed its ties with Syria and continued to support it. “This does not mean, however, that we approved of the regime’s actions and the Syrian government’s behavior. On the contrary, we constantly criticized the regime and encouraged it to improve the situation in Syria.”
Today, “we wish the new Syrian administration success in improving the situation, but the scene isn’t very clear at the moment,” he said, while welcoming the positive statements made by leader of the transitional authority Ahmed al-Sharaa about his determination to improve the situation in Syria.
On the security level, Rashid said Iraq and Syria share a long border, “and the reality is that several terrorist groups are active there. This worries us.”
“The international community must work on finding radical solutions to the crisis of terrorists from different nationalities who are held in detention camps,” he urged.
Water crisis
The persistent water crisis in Iraq has deepened in recent years, impacting its economy and food security.
Rashid acknowledged the crisis, noting that solutions to it are also available. “They can be easily implemented if there was a real and serious desire to do so,” he said, while referring to two main factors that can move them forward.
The first, Rashid said, is the behavior of neighboring countries. Iraq heavily depends on the Euphrates and Tigris rivers, whose sources are both located outside the country. The majority are located in Türkiye, while some tributaries are in Iran.
“Iran and Türkiye's cooperation is very necessary and important” in resolving this issue, the president explained.
“Historically, there were never dams or artificial barriers on the Euphrates and Tigris rivers in Türkiye. Today, several dams have been built on the rivers, which has been denying us water. This is one of the main reasons for the water problem in Iraq,” he said.
As for Iran, “we are consulting with it over the water issue and working together to resolve this problem,” he told Asharq Al-Awsat, revealing that Iranian officials are “receptive” to Baghdad's demands and stressing that Iraq “has not taken its fair share of the water.”
He hoped the water crisis would be resolved through peaceful means and understanding, not armed conflicts.
The second factor, said Rashid, is climate. “This is something we cannot control. We need to take advantage of the rainfall to help in agriculture and raising cattle,” he added. He also underlined the importance of storing groundwater.
The president acknowledged that Iraq is not adopting modern irrigation methods given the lack of good internal management of the water file.
