According to Iraqi Prime Minister Muhammad Shiaa Al-Sudani, several political groups established contacts with nations in the area before to the 2003 shift.
According to a statement acquired by Shafaq News Agency, this occurred during a conversation session he had at the American Council on Foreign Relations on the fringes of his visit to New York.
“We went through a painful experience in confronting terrorism, starting with Al-Qaeda and ending with ISIS, but after the victory over ISIS, we lived a new beginning in Iraq,” Al-Sudani continued, noting that “the battle against ISIS united Iraqis of all sects and components, which made us move beyond the sectarian, nationalist, and ethnic discourse that impacts stability.”
“Competition in the political process is taking place today in accordance with constitutional mechanisms, and there are those who go to the Federal Court or participate in elections, and this is a healthy sign of the stability of the political system,” he said, adding, “Our constitution has established the mechanisms necessary to carry out the amendment, and it is available and possible for anyone who wishes to amend according to Constitutional paths.”
“There are fears of some components regarding a return to the presidential system,” he said, adding, “We do not deny the existence of some political forces’ relations with countries in the region, some of which date back to before the change, or what happened later in the process.”
“We do not accept any external party to be a party to bring about change in the entity of the political process,” Al-Sudani said, adding, “We went through a difficult stage after the 2021 elections, but everyone adhered to the constitutional contexts and we reached a political agreement to form the government, which is a sign of maturity in the country.”
He emphasized the importance of “distinguishing between positive relationships with neighboring countries and negative relationships that reach the stage of intervention, and every transgression and aggression against Iraq is rejected by any party.”
“All countries, including America, if they want to establish relations with Iraq, must respect the country’s sovereignty and the will of its people,” he continued, adding that “Iraq is a country of components that have lived in a peaceful atmosphere for many years, and trying to penetrate its social fabric will not create stability.”
He stated that “reforming the economic reality is one of the important challenges, which requires diversifying the economy and not adopting economic unilateralism, and that the needs of Iraqis are increasing with their population growth, and oil revenues cannot cover them.”
The following are the highlights of what Al-Sudani said.
We have a strategy for economic reform in which we aim to reinvest squandered resources in key areas such as agriculture, manufacturing, commerce, and tourism.
The development road project, Al-Faw port, and the other projects affiliated with it will reshape Iraq, giving it a new and diverse economic face.
Investing in related gas is important for addressing our environmental issues, and we have negotiated agreements to create power from solar energy up to (2500) megawatts.
The majority of the parties that will run in the forthcoming elections are new.
The steal of the century involves Iraq’s highest decision-making centers and senior officials.
Some of individuals suspected of the century’s theft are in the United States and have American and British citizenship, and we are hoping for their assistance in locating them.
Iraqis form relationships with nations based on their response to handing over individuals wanted for the robbery of the century, and our government will continue to seek and prosecute them, regardless of their stance.
More than 3 trillion dinars were stolen in full view of the former government’s security services and top echelons, and the majority of this money transferred to banks outside Iraq, with the balance being recovered within Iraq.
The Iraqi decision is a national decision that is based on the interests of our people rather than the wishes of America, Iran, or Turkey.
We are concerned about the situation in Syria because it has terrorist hotspots and areas outside of state authority, as well as foreign troops, and the instability of Syria threatens the stability of the region’s countries.
Drugs invade Syria owing to the presence of areas outside the state’s authority, and they affect Iraq, Jordan, and even the Gulf nations.
Iraq has many religious and historical tourist attractions, and many delegations began to visit Iraq following the Pope’s visit, and the tourism industry is under the control of the government.
We conveyed to representatives of American corporations that we meet all of the standards for a secure investment environment in Iraq.
There is no political crisis between Baghdad and the Iraqi Kurdistan Region; rather, there are financial and legal issues that have been resolved through dialogue and understanding, and the region is a key actor in the political process as well as an important part of our economic projects that benefit Iraqis.
We are now researching a strategic water management project, the first of its type in Iraqi history, in order to make the most use of it.
The water issue is an existential dilemma in Iraq, and the crisis coincided with upstream nations’ initiatives that harmed our water sharing, necessitating extensive diplomatic action with neighboring countries.
We are developing a Gulf water desalination plant to supply water to Basra and the other southern governorates.
