Iraq’s Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein speaks during the 17th IISS Manama Dialogue in the Bahraini capital Manama, on November 20, 2021. (File photo by AFP)

The Iraqi Foreign Ministry has reiterated Baghdad’s support for the Palestinian cause, stressing that the Arab country categorically rejects any normalization scheme with the Israeli regime.

We renew the stance of the Foreign Ministry, as it was known, Iraq’s firm and supportive stance towards the Palestinian cause and the implementation of the full legitimate rights of the Palestinian people and the categorical rejection of the issue of normalization with Israel, Foreign Ministry spokesman Ahmed al-Sahaf said in a statement carried by Iraqi News Agency on Sunday.

Sahaf also dismissed as false the statements attributed to Iraq’s Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein that alleged Baghdad does not reject normalization with Israel.

He noted that Hussein has underscored the Palestinian people’s rights and Iraq’s rejection of any form of normalization with Tel Aviv during the IISS Manama Dialogue forum and other international meetings.

The foreign minister has stressed his saying of ‘No to Normalization’, whether in al-Manama conference or in several televised interviews, the spokesman noted.

Meanwhile, Hussein’s interview with an Israeli channel on the sidelines of the Manama Dialogue forum also drew strong reactions inside Iraq.

A senior leader of Iraq’s al-Nujaba resistance movement denounced the decision as an unjustifiable action that amounts to support for the Israeli regime.

This action took place after the events that demonstrated the opposition of the free societies to this terrorist and criminal regime, Nasr al-Shammari, deputy secretary-general and spokesman of the group, wrote in a tweet.

However, according to Sahaf, the Israeli TV channel that interviewed Foreign Minister Hussein had used the name of another media channel.

The Iraqi spokesman then denounced the channel for impersonating another media outlet.

The so-called Abraham Accords, also known as normalization deals, were signed at the White House in September 2020 between Israel, Bahrain, and the United Arab Emirates. Morocco and Sudan later signed normalization agreements with the Israeli regime as well.

Palestinians have denounced the normalization deals, describing them as a stab in the back and a betrayal to their cause.

Back in September, the Iraqi government and resistance groups in the Arab country censured a conference held by a US think tank in Erbil, the capital of Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdistan region, during which various participants urged Baghdad to join the normalization scheme and normalize relations with Israel.