Ex-Iraqi PM Blasts US Threats against Iran as Violation of Int'l Laws

Former Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki underlined that the US dangerous approach of threatening and sanctioning Iran is against the international laws, warning of its consequences for the regional states.

News ID: 444853

Date: 12 May 2019 - 04:31

RNA - "Military tension in the region, beating the drums of war and implied hint at confrontation along with unilateral economic sanctions by the US against the Islamic Republic of Iran is a violation of the international laws and rules and will bear dangerous consequences for the Muslim Iranian nation and all the regional nations, specially the Iraqi nation which has just ended a devastating war against the ISIL terrorist group," Maliki, also the head of Iraq's State of Law Coalition, was quoted by the Arabic-language al-Nashrah news website as saying on Saturday.

He warned that the US policy of threat, bullying and using strategic weapons to impose its will, would push regional stability and security towards a ragged edge and will foment a new round of pervasive violence.

Maliki called on the US to avoid using force to impose its will on others.

The United States tightened the screws further on Iran with sanctions on its metal industry on the day Tehran said it was suspending some of its commitments under the 2015 nuclear deal with world powers.

The White House said that the new sanctions, announced on May 8, target Iran's steel, aluminum, copper and iron sectors.

Hours earlier, Iran said that it would no longer sell its surplus enriched uranium and heavy water to other nations as stipulated in the nuclear agreement between Tehran and six world powers.

In relevant remarks on Thursday Iraqi legislators strongly rejected Baghdad's compliance with Washington's sanctions against Tehran, describing them as harmful to their country.

"We do not accept the US pressures on Iraq and do not accept Iraq to be part of sanctions against Iran," senior member of the Iraqi parliament's foreign affairs committee Na'eem al-Aboudi told the Arabic-language service of RT on Thursday.

He underlined Iran and Iraq's geographical and historical ties, saying, "Supporting Iran's siege is not within our interests."

Also, Representative of al-Fatah coalition in the Iraqi parliament Hassan Salem underlined that the country's government was not committed to the US sanctions against Tehran because "they leave negative impact on Iraq's economy".

He told the Arabic-language al-Ma'aloumeh news website that Iraq would be harmed more than others by the US sanctions against Tehran because it depended on Iran in imports of gas and electricity.

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