ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iran on Monday rejected what it called foreign interference in Iraq’s upcoming parliamentary elections, scheduled for Tuesday, emphasizing that the vote is an internal matter and that Tehran’s ties with Baghdad will remain strong regardless of the outcome.
“Any foreign interference in Iraq's elections is condemned and rejected,” Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei said, according to state media. He added that “the [United States of] America’s interventions are certainly harmful.”
Baghaei’s remarks follow a series of US sanctions on Iraqi companies and individuals accused of aiding Iran and affiliated militia networks.
In October, the US treasury department targeted an Iraqi company and several bankers for alleged corruption and sanction evasion. Similar measures in July targeted a network accused of smuggling billions of dollars’ worth of Iranian oil, part of Washington’s renewed “maximum pressure” campaign on Tehran, reimposed earlier this year.
“Whatever the outcome of Iraq's elections, the friendly relations between Tehran and Baghdad will continue,” Baghaei said. “Our relationship with Iraq is very important and friendly, and we are confident that, regardless of the election results, this positive process between the two nations will persist.”
He added that “our great neighbor certainly knows how to manage its own issues with other actors,” underscoring Iran’s position that Iraq’s elections are a domestic affair.
“We believe that elections in Iraq are an internal matter,” he said. “We pray that the Iraqi people will participate in the best possible way in this process that determines the political future [of their country], and, God willing, the outcome will bring what is good and beneficial for Iraq.”
Iraq will hold its parliamentary elections on Tuesday, the sixth since the 2003 fall of the Baath regime.
Early voting took place on Sunday for security personnel and displaced persons, with Iraq’s electoral body, the Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC), reporting a turnout of 82.4 percent among special voters.
Of note, in the Kurdistan Region, participation rates soared past 97 percent in Erbil, 95 percent in the eastern Sulaimani province, and 88 percent in the northern Duhok province.