Iraq won't take part in regional conflict, says PM Abadi after Donald Trump phone call

Iraq won’t take part in any regional or international conflicts, Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said on Saturday. The comment came after Abadi had spoke in a phone call with US President Donald Trump where tensions with Iran were mentioned. [caption id=“attachment_2871374” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] A file photo of Iraq’s Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi. Reuters[/caption] “Iraq is very keen to preserve its national interests and does not wish to be part of any regional or international conflict which would lead to disasters for the region and for Iraq,” Abadi told state TV. The White House on Friday said Trump and Abadi “spoke to the threat Iran presents across the entire region,” in their first phone call since the inauguration of the US president. Abadi’s office on Friday also gave a readout of the phone call that took place overnight Thursday, without specifically mentioning Iran. Abadi had asked Trump to lift the ban on people from his country traveling to the United States. “Trump stressed the importance of coordination to find a solution to this issue as soon as possible and that he will direct the US State Department in this regard,” the government said in a statement, adding that it was the US president who had initiated the call on Thursday. Trump has said he will keep pushing to reinstate an executive order temporarily banning people from Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen. A US judge suspended the order last week and a court refused on Thursday an appeal to reinstate it.