Speaking to the Arabic news site Al Bawaba, Hamid Al Bayati, Iraq’s deputy minister of foreign affairs, asserted that his country refuses to have any diplomatic relations with Israel. Bayati emphasized that Iraq will always be with Arab consensus. "Arab consensus is currently against having any diplomatic relations with Israel so we will be in support of this stance,” said Bayati.
Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom has said that it should be up to the Iraqi people to decide whether Iraq should have diplomatic relations with Israel or not.
Although there have been reports of Israeli businessmen working in Northern Iraq – and even training Kurdish fighters, Bayati denied such claims. "Kurds in northern Iraq have denied any Israeli entry into Kurdistan…and I can assure you that we do not have any individual or corporate Israeli activity in other parts of Iraq," Bayati added.
Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom has said that it should be up to the Iraqi people to decide whether Iraq should have diplomatic relations with Israel or not.
Although there have been reports of Israeli businessmen working in Northern Iraq – and even training Kurdish fighters, Bayati denied such claims. "Kurds in northern Iraq have denied any Israeli entry into Kurdistan…and I can assure you that we do not have any individual or corporate Israeli activity in other parts of Iraq," Bayati added.