Iraq continues to confuse with their reaction to President Trump’s immigration ban, with Prime Minister Hayder Abadi today insisting that Iraq has not and will not impose a retaliatory ban on American citizens, despite parliament voting for such a ban yesterday.
Statements out of the foreign ministry over the weekend gave the impression that such a ban was already in place on Sunday, though there was a lot of question as to whether the statement intended to put the ban in place or simply advocate for it. Abadi’s statement suggests it was the later.
As with the other impacted nations, there was palpable anger across Iraq at the Trump executive order, banning Iraqi citizens from the United States. This was particularly the case in Iraqi Kurdistan, where many complained that their long pro-US stance was not being rewarded.
The anger fueled calls for retaliatory moves, though Abadi has insisted that any retaliation against the US for the ban would “harm the national interest.” There had been concern among some Iraqis that the move would damage business interests with US companies.
