TEHRAN — Iran has welcomed the departure of US and other foreign forces from Iraq after two decades, describing the development as an important and necessary step toward strengthening national sovereignty, territorial integrity and independence in the Arab country.

In a statement issued on Sunday, Iran’s Foreign Ministry congratulated the Iraqi people and government on the departure of US forces and other foreign troops, saying the development marked “a very important and necessary step” toward consolidating national governance, territorial integrity and Iraq’s independence.

The ministry said the presence of foreign forces in Iraq over the past two decades had inflicted severe human, material and security costs on the country and the wider region.

It recalled that the US military invasion of Iraq began on March 20, 2003, under what it described as the false pretext of confronting “weapons of mass destruction.”

According to the Iranian Foreign Ministry, the 23-year presence of the US and its allies in Iraq resulted in devastating consequences for the country and the region, including the deaths of more than one million Iraqis, among them tens of thousands of innocent women and children.

The ministry also cited hundreds of billions of dollars in material losses to Iraq’s infrastructure, environmental destruction, severe war crimes, and the torture of Iraqi men and women prisoners at Abu Ghraib prison.

It further accused the US military presence of contributing to the strengthening of Takfiri terrorism and Daesh in Iraq and the wider region.
 

Iran stresses Iraq’s sovereignty

The Iranian Foreign Ministry said the Islamic Republic, while paying tribute to the resistance and steadfastness of the Iraqi people against occupation, terrorism and sectarianism, stressed the need to respect Iraq’s national sovereignty and territorial integrity.

It also said the withdrawal of US forces and their allies should serve as a reminder that the presence of the US military and its allies in countries across the region, except for “furthering violence, insecurity, instability and terrorism,” had produced no positive outcome.

“The Islamic Republic of Iran stresses the necessity of respecting Iraq’s national sovereignty and territorial integrity,” the ministry said.

It added that the departure of foreign forces from Iraq should serve as a reminder of the consequences of foreign military intervention in the region and the instability and insecurity that followed.

Iran commemorates victims of occupation

The Foreign Ministry also paid tribute to the hundreds of thousands of people it described as martyrs in the struggle against occupation and terrorism.

It specifically commemorated Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis and Qasem Soleimani, who were martyred in a US drone strike near Baghdad International Airport in January 2020.

The ministry called on the US government to answer for what it described as the “crimes and losses” inflicted on the Iraqi people and other countries throughout the period of occupation.

The statement emphasized that the Iraqi people's resistance and steadfastness had played an important role in confronting occupation, terrorism and sectarianism, while underscoring the importance of ensuring that Iraq’s sovereignty and territorial integrity are respected.