Shafaq News/ Iraqi Prime Minister Muhammad S. al-Sudani categorically rejected any Iranian interference in Iraqi affairs and rejected the American military presence in Iraq in an interview with the Qatari Al-Jazeera channel on Monday.

Al-Sudani spoke about the challenges he faces within the Coordination Framework (CF) Coalition that includes all the Shiite forces except for the Sadrist Movement, stating that before he was assigned to form the government, he discussed with the CF leaders the challenges and how to confront them, including the problem of armed factions and the presence of the Global Coalition. He said that they gave him a mandate to negotiate to reshape the relationship with the Global Coalition and reach a clear-cut agreement.

Regarding the American presence in Iraq, he indicated that the Iraqi security forces are capable and ready to provide security in all of Iraq, and what the country needs from the Americans is “not a combat presence, but security and training relations.”

On Iraqi-Iranian relations, Al-Sudani described Iran as a neighboring country that supported the political process after 2003 and has good relations with all Iraqi components.

He denied the existence of any Iranian interference or tutelage in the Iraqi government new formation and its difficult negotiations, explaining that the Iranian interference in the Iraqi internal issues is “unacceptable.”

“Iraq does not want to be an arena for settling scores.” He said.

While the Iraqi Prime Minister praised his country's relations with Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Turkey, he said that the Saudi-Iranian agreement is very important between two prominent countries in the region and will contribute to achieving stability and development.

On the other hand, he stressed that Syria must return to the Arab States League, and that all must deal with the official regime heads by the Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad.