Iraq to Stand by Iran in the era of US sanctions: FM Hakim

26 May, 2019 11:13

Iraq to Stand by Iran in the era of US sanctions: FM Hakim

Iraqi Foreign Minister Mohamed Alhahkim, right, and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, hold a press conference in Baghdad, Iraq, Sunday, Jan. 13, 2019. Alhahkim said Iraq supports efforts to restore Syria’s membership in the Arab League eight years after it was expelled from the regional body. Iraq is one of three countries in the Arab world that never cut ties with Syrian President Bashar Assad’s government after its crackdown against anti-government demonstrations in 2011 led to civil war. (AP Photo/Khalid Mohammed)

Iraqi Foreign Minister Mohammad al-Hakim said his country would stand by the Iranian nation and government in the era of US sanctions against Tehran.

Iraq stands with Iran and is willing to act as an intermediary between its neighbor and the United States, Hakim said on Saturday speaking in a press conference with his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif in Baghdad.

He added that Baghdad does not believe an “economic blockade” by the US could be fruitful, according to Reuters.

Zarif, for his part, condemned the US sanctions and said Tehran would strongly defend itself against any military or economic aggression and called on Europe to do more to preserve the 2015 nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers.

In May 2018, the US president pulled his country out of the JCPOA, which was achieved in 2015 after years of negotiations among Iran and the Group 5+1 (Russia, China, the US, Britain, France and Germany).

Ever since, the EU has failed to make good on its promise to save the nuclear deal and facilitate Iran’s economic trade with the international community.

The Iranian minister also said that the Islamic Republic wanted to build balanced relations with its Persian Gulf Arab neighbors and that it had proposed signing a non-aggression pact with them.