Iraq Summons Bahraini Envoy as Diplomatic Tensions Escalate

TEHRAN (defapress) – Iraq’s Foreign Ministry summoned Bahrain’s ambassador to Baghdad to voice protest at Bahraini Foreign Minister Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifa’s insulting remarks about Iraqi prominent figure Muqtada al-Sadr.

News ID: 77083

Date: 28 April 2019 - 11:37

Iraq’s Foreign Ministry spokesman said the Bahraini ambassador to Baghdad have been summoned after an offensive post by Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifa in his Twitter account about Muqtada al-Sadr, the leader of the Sadrist Movement of Iraq.

The spokesperson noted that the US chargé d'affaires in Baghdad has been also summoned by the Foreign Ministry to voice protest at the US Embassy’s move to send insulting and meddlesome posts in its social network accounts, Alsumaria News reported.

The Bahraini foreign minister’s comments about Sadr aggravated the increasingly strained relations between Baghdad and Manama.

On Sunday, Bahrain’s Foreign Ministry summoned the deputy chargé d’affaires of the embassy of Iraq to denounce a recent statement by Muqtada al-Sadr about the Manama government.

“A statement issued by Muqtada al-Sadr represents an unacceptable offense against the Kingdom of Bahrain and its leadership. It is a blatant interference in the affairs of the Kingdom of Bahrain, a clear violation of the principles of international law and constitutes an abuse of the nature of relations between the Kingdom of Bahrain and the Republic of Iraq,” a statement from the Bahraini foreign ministry read.

Also in December 2018, Bahrain’s foreign ministry had summoned the deputy charge d’affaires of the embassy of Iraq to denounce footage of former Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki criticizing Manama’s crackdown on the Shiite opposition.

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