Afət Ziyadqızı
Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein held a joint news conference in Rome with Italy’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Antonio Tajani.
Operative Information Center-OMM reports, citing the Iraqi News Agency (INA), that Hussein assessed the severe damage the military conflict between the United States and Israel, on one side, and Iran, on the other, has inflicted on Iraq’s economy and the regional financial system. He said the continuation of armed clashes could have catastrophic consequences for Iraq.
The Iraqi foreign minister said the direct and indirect damage to the country’s economy since the war began had reached about $60 billion.
Hussein said the ongoing large-scale military operations had further worsened the global energy crisis, driving sharp price increases in oil and gas markets and adding to inflationary pressures internationally. He said the crisis posed a direct threat to the economic stability of countries around the world, including those in the European Union.
The Iraqi foreign minister stressed the need for urgent diplomatic action to bring military tensions in the region under control and prevent the conflict from spreading to other countries. He called on the European Union and leading European states to step up mediation efforts to secure an immediate ceasefire and bring the parties back to the negotiating table.
Fuad Hussein had previously said that disruptions to the safe movement of ships through the Strait of Hormuz and a maritime blockade had sharply reduced Iraq’s oil exports. The resulting loss of oil revenues, which form the mainstay of the state budget, had pushed the country’s economy into a deep crisis.
