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Iraq to send teams to Tehran, Washington to try to calm tensions – PM Abdul Mahdi Baghdad to send diplomatic teams to help ‘halt’ US-Iran tensions – PM
(about 1 hour later)
Iraq will send delegations to Washington and Tehran to help “halt tension” amid fears of a confrontation between the US and Iran in the Middle East, Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi has said. Iraq will send diplomatic delegations to both Tehran and Washington, its prime minister has said, after weeks of military posturing and insult trading has prompted fears of open conflict between the two rivals.
He said on Tuesday there were no Iraqi groups that wanted to push towards a war. On Sunday, a rocket fired in Baghdad landed close to the US Embassy. Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi said the teams' aim was to help “halt tensions” between the US and Iran. It’s not an official mediation though. Iraq considers both Iran and the US as allies, with both giving substantial support to Baghdad in its battle against Islamic State (formerly ISIS/ISIL) terrorists.
No one has claimed responsibility for the rocket fired into the heavily fortified Green Zone, which houses government buildings and diplomatic missions. “Iraq is making high-level contact, and its view to resolve the crisis is so close to the European view,” Mahdi said, referring to many European nations’ who want normalized relations with Iran. He added that both US and Iranian officials had confirmed to him that they do not want conflict with each other.
US government sources said Washington strongly suspects Shiite militias with ties to Tehran were behind the rocket attack, Reuters reported. Iran has rejected allegations of involvement in attacks. Mahdi’s push for de-escalation follows calls by several influential Iraqi Shia leaders against any military action. Prominent cleric and politician Muqtada al-Sadr feared a US-Iran conflict would be “the end of Iraq” and pushed for “peace and reconstruction.” Hadi al-Amiri, an Iraqi politician and former military commander warned that war would “burn everyone.”Delete
Governments in the region have been on high alert in recent weeks after Washington upped its military presence by sending a “message to Iran” in the form of an aircraft carrier group, bombers, and extra missile defenses to the Persian Gulf. Iran has repeatedly said it does not want conflict with Washington, with Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei believing there is a similar line of thinking in the US.
“Neither we nor they seek war. They know it will not be in their interest,” he said.
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