this month, the Islamic Republic no longer has any argument for interfering inside Iraq.
Maliki did not cite Iran by name in his remarks, but his meaning was very clear.
“The [US military] withdrawal operation will take away all the slogans that some countries hide behind in order to interfere in the internal affairs of Iraq,” Maliki said last week during the visit of US Vice President Joe Biden.
Later, in an interview with The Associated Press, he was asked about fears in the West that Iraq would now become a toady of Iran. “Iraq is not a follower of any country,” Maliki replied.
He pointed out some policies that Iraq had adopted contrary to Iran’s desires, such as signing the security agreement with the United States that kept US troops in Iraq until this month.
“Through our policies, Iraq was not and will not be a follower of another country’s policies,” Maliki said.
Maliki did not mention that Iraq just recently followed Iran’s wishes by abstaining when the Arab League voted to suspend Syria’s membership for its repression of its people.