Shafaq News- Tehran

Esmaeil Baqaei, spokesperson for the Iranian Foreign Ministry, on Monday reaffirmed that Tehran’s relations with Iraq remain “solid”, and changes of government in Baghdad do not affect the strategic nature of bilateral ties.

Earlier, Al-Sulaymaniyah Governor Haval Abu Bakr urged Tehran's newly appointed Consul to the province to end military strikes and bombardment targeting the Kurdistan Region, stressing that Erbil has pursued a policy of neutrality and must not be drawn into regional or international conflict axes.

In Baghdad, government spokesperson Sabah al-Numan underlined that Iraq’s strategic priority remains strengthening national security and maintaining distance from regional and international conflicts. Speaking to the Iraqi News Agency (INA), he explained that Baghdad’s governing framework is based on a “preventive diplomacy” approach aimed at managing relations in a balanced manner, adding that Iraq would not allow its territory to be used as a corridor or launchpad for attacks against other states, while also rejecting any external interference in its internal affairs.

On Sunday, Saudi Arabia reported the interception and destruction of three drones after they entered its airspace from Iraqi territory. Neither the Iraqi government nor the Islamic Resistance in Iraq (IRI) publicly commented on the incident. IRI, an umbrella network of armed groups in Iraq aligned with Iran, has previously claimed responsibility for drone and missile attacks targeting regional sites during periods of heightened Iran–US tensions.

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