Shafaq News- Baghdad

Ammar al-Hakim, leader of Iraq’s Alliance of National State Forces, called on Saturday for an immediate halt to the war in the region and urged a return to diplomacy, as the conflict between the United States and Israel on one side and Iran on the other entered its seventh day.

According to a statement from his office, al-Hakim, during a meeting in Baghdad with the United Kingdom’s ambassador to Iraq, Irfan Siddiq, described Iraq as among the countries most affected by developments in the region and stressed the need to “return to the negotiating table.” He urged major powers to pressure for de-escalation through international efforts aimed at preserving regional stability and global security, calling dialogue and mutual understanding the most effective path to resolving conflicts.

In a separate meeting with Italy’s ambassador to Iraq, Niccolò Fontana, al-Hakim emphasized the importance of adhering to international law, particularly the United Nations Charter, and respecting the sovereignty of states. On Iraq’s domestic front, he underlined the need to respect the country’s sovereignty and “not use its territory as a base for aggression against neighboring countries,” urging efforts to keep Baghdad away from the escalation.

Regional tensions have intensified since joint US–Israeli strikes targeted sites inside Iran on February 28, prompting Tehran to launch retaliatory missile and drone attacks against Israel and US military bases across the region. In Iraq, factions aligned with Tehran operating under the banner of the Islamic Resistance have claimed rocket and drone attacks against what they describe as “enemy bases” in Iraq and neighboring areas. Iraq’s four presidencies reiterated on Thursday their rejection of using Iraqi territory as a launchpad for attacks against neighboring states.

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