Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs called on all parties in Iraq to unite on Tuesday, after violent protests erupted in the country following the resignation of prominent Iraqi Shiite cleric Muqtada Al-Sadr from government.
The Kingdom is following the ongoing events in Iraq with ‘great concern and expresses its deepest regret over the current situation,’ the ministry said in a statement.
The statement said that Saudi Arabia was urging all parties to resort to peaceful solutions to resolve the demands of the Iraqi people, guaranteeing the country and its people’s stability and prosperity, the statement added.
#بيان | تتابع وزارة خارجية المملكة العربية السعودية ببالغ القلق والاهتمام تطورات الأحداث الجارية في جمهورية العراق الشقيقة pic.twitter.com/OWSUGPKo0i
— وزارة الخارجية (@KSAMOFA) August 30, 2022
At least 23 people were killed and hundreds of others were injured when violence erupted between rival Shiite forces and the army, according to AFP.
The violence that erupted on Monday pitted Sadr loyalists against Shiite factions backed by neighbouring Iran, with the sides exchanging gunfire across barricades – violence the United Nations warned risked tipping the war-ravaged country deeper into chaos.
Al-Sadr had called on his supporters to withdraw from Baghdad’s Green Zone immediately in a speech broadcasted on live television.
