Iraqi Parliament Responds to US State Department: Your Interference in Budget is Unacceptable
Iraqi Parliament Responds to US State Department: Your Interference in Budget is Unacceptable
2025-01-16 01:08
Shafaq News/ The Foreign Relations Committee in the Iraqi Parliament responded, on Thursday, to the US State Department’s statements regarding urging the Parliament to expedite the vote on the budget to resolve the dispute between Baghdad and Erbil.
Committee member Mukhtar al-Moussawi told Shafaq News Agency, “The statements of the US State Department are unacceptable, and this interference in Iraqi internal affairs regarding the budget and other matters is blatant and unacceptable, and cannot be tolerated and must be officially rejected by the relevant government agencies, as well as the House of Representatives and political actors.”
Al-Moussawi added that “the dispute between Baghdad and Erbil, financial and oil, is an internal issue and it is not right for any external party to interfere, as this increases the differences, and therefore the US State Department should not interfere,” stressing that “this interference is unacceptable and any attempt at media pressure or otherwise will not be of any use with the Iraqi legislative institution.”
On Wednesday, the US State Department urged the Iraqi parliament to expedite the passage of Iraq’s federal budget.
“We have worked with the federal government of Iraq and the Kurdistan Regional Government to reach a permanent budget agreement that will facilitate sustainable oil production in the Kurdistan Region,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said in a press briefing at the department.
“We saw the budget amendment reviewed this week and we urge its swift passage,” Miller added.
The Finance Committee of the Iraqi Council of Representatives met last Saturday with Finance Minister Taif Sami to discuss proposed amendments to some provisions of the 2025 budget law, including issues related to the oil file, salaries, and the Kurdistan Region budget.
Last Monday, the Iraqi Parliament also completed reviewing and discussing the second reading of the draft law amending the first federal budget law.
shafaq.com
