Breaking Out Of the Crisis in Iraq

Continuous sessions of the Iraqi Parliament to reach an agreement with regard to the future prime minister of this country have been futile. What is the main reason behind this failure?

The situation in Iraq is very complicated right now. The reason is the existence of certain problems in Iraq which were not resolved when they should have been. Thus, other problems were added to the situation including the issue of the Sunnis and their legitimate demands. Mr. Maleki stated that if he is elected as the prime minister, he would declare general clemency. I think that this means that he is confessing to his incorrect actions in the past. But if these matters are not attended to at the right time, they will not bring the right results. Right now, both Mr. Barzani and other groups insist that Mr. Maleki should not become the prime minister for the third time in a row. They have even written a letter to Ayatollah Sistani. Ayatollah Sistani is not inclined towards the reelection of Mr. Maleki either but he attempts to refrain from directly entering the political scene due to the method used by the Maraje’ in Iraq. He only takes public positions. Among the Shiites, there has not yet been an agreement for the method to remove Maleki. The government of law and the coalition front claim to have the majority of votes, thus, they believe that they should elect the prime minister. On the other hand, the prime minister was supposed to be introduced recently but they did not reach an agreement. This caused the parliament to not be able to reach an agreement with regard to the presence of the new members. This was against the constitution which stresses that the speaker and the deputy speaker of the parliament must be elected in the first session of the parliament.

Is there any consensus with regard to a particular person among other Shiite groups?

There is no consensus right now. The reason is that Maleki insists on remaining in his position. If the Maleki group had introduced another person, this problem would not have been created. Mr. Maleki has, hitherto, refused to step down from power or accept another person as prime minister.

During the last two weeks, Daesh’s activities have seriously involved Iraq’s security and government forces. Will these activities affect the election of the prime minister in parliament?

The issue of Daesh will certainly impact the election of the prime minister. The dimensions of this group have recently become clear. This group claims to be not only Daesh, but rather the government of all Islamic countries. This issue has even frightened Saudi Arabia. This group attempts to control Iraq’s border with Saudi Arabia and this matter has created fear in the countries of the region. Also, the regional countries, including Saudi Arabia and Qatar, have also taken positions in this regard. This group has now become very powerful. The domestic developments of Iraq could affect the security of all countries of the region.

Since the intensification of Daesh’s activities in Iraq, Noori Maleki has, many times, asked for the US’ help but the US has only dispatched military advisors to this country. Why doesn’t the US enter into a military action to contain this widespread insecurity in Iraq?

One cannot accurately answer this question. The US must response to this matter. But certain elements can be considered in this regard. One is that the Obama administration does not have the power to make decisions with regard to the war issues. The other point is that the US will not have its past influence in Iraq. Besides, the regional countries are not united with regard to the situation in Iraq and the US’ entrance to suppress this group because some of the countries of the region believe that this is a popular uprising inside Iraq. The other reason is the lack of agreement among Iraqi politicians with regard to the prime minister. On one hand, the US raises the question of what the impact of their entrance into Iraq is on neighboring countries like Iran, Syria and Saudi Arabia and the Persian Gulf Littoral states. Have the consequences of this measure been carefully studied? But most probably the reason behind their doubt in entering a war is the Obama administration itself.

What other options, besides the option of direct military intervention, exist to confront Daesh in Iraq?

The best option upon which Iran also insists is the removal of problems in Iraq. Military aids are needed to strengthen the Iraqi government and the army in regions like Mosul, Tikrit and other parts. Political solutions could include exerting pressure on the Maleki government to leave its past methods with regard to the Sunni regions and the Kurds and pursue a more peaceful and interactive path with regard to these regions.

The speaker of the coalition government of law and Baghdad’s ambassador to Washington have warned that if the US does not help them, they will ask for Iran’s help. Within what framework and structure should, in your opinion, Iran’s military aid be formed so that Tehran would not be accused of interfering in another country?

Iran’s role is very sensitive. The reason is that any intervention would strengthen the idea of Sunni-Shiite confrontation. Iran must cautiously help Iraq within international laws. Now that everyone has comprehended the threat of Daesh’s presence, a resolution must be adopted in the Security Council to intervene in this matter and Iran can be part of it. Or a regional consensus should be created with regard to helping Iraq and Iran could act in that path. Otherwise, Iran will be accused of interfering and this will provoke the Sunni public opinion which is the majority in the Arab countries. The government of Iraq cannot receive arms from Iran due to the sanctions imposed by the UN on Iran. We must allow the Iraqi officials to receive arms from any country that they wish so that regional sensitivities would be reduced. They have now asked the US. If the US rejects their demand, they might ask other countries.

After three weeks of Daesh activities in Iraq, why have the countries of the region including Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Kuwait not held an extraordinary meeting to decide about how to confront this issue?

The reason is the different opinions among the countries of the region. Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Iran are the main countries in the region. With regard to Syria, Saudi Arabia and Turkey believe that the presence of Bashar Assad will create problems but Iran does not have the same view. There are also different opinions with regard to Bahrain between Iran and Saudi Arabia. These differences have led to different interpretations from the events in Iraq, which by themselves increase the differences. Therefore, it must be said that the countries must enter into a dialogue with each other and remove their differences and have regional cooperation. Iran and Saudi Arabia must know that they cannot resolve the problems of the region based on their own interpretations. Political determination must be formed to resolve the differences. Iran, Saudi Arabia and Turkey and even countries like Egypt must reach a common interpretation and forget their dogmatic interpretations of the past. The countries of the region can have the least cooperation based on a common interpretation. If these countries cooperate, many of these issues, but not all of them, can be resolved.