Iraqi vice president al-Hashemi lashes out at Iran for ‘meddling’

“Iran has its hand in our every internal business. It is a disturbing neighbor,” Hashemi said during a visit to Today's Zaman on Tuesday. “We have worked really hard to normalize our relations and expected them to show a sense of responsibility. But they don't have that sense of responsibility.”

Al-Hashemi is Iraq's most senior Sunni official, and his Renewal List is a part of Shiite leader Ayad Allawi's cross sectarian al-Iraqiya bloc, which won 91 seats in the 325-member Parliament in the March 7 election. The bloc's closest rival is Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's Shiite-dominated State of Law Alliance, which won 89 seats. Iraq's minority Sunni community, which saw its once dominant position under Saddam Hussein destroyed under the majority Shiite government that came to power after the 2003 US-led invasion, was jubilant after al-Iraqiya's win; but, since then, prospects for an al-Iraqiya-led government have weakened considerably, and al-Maliki's State of Law Alliance appears to be more likely to form the government.

On March 25 Iraq's Federal Supreme Court said, in response to a request for clarification of the Iraqi Constitution from al-Maliki, that election lists could be merged after the election, which means that although al-Iraqiya won the most votes, another bloc could have the right to form the government if it comes up with a new coalition that forms the majority.

Iranian officials then met representatives of the two Shiite-dominated groups -- al-Maliki's State of Law Alliance and the Iraqi National Alliance, which won 70 seats -- apparently in an effort to unite them in a coalition, preferably backed by the Kurdistan Alliance. The visits of the two Shiite blocs to Tehran were on the occasion of Nevruz celebrations, according to official statements.

But al-Hashemi, who had talks with top Turkish leaders, including President Abdullah Gül and Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu, in Ankara, sees the meetings in Tehran as an attempt to create an alternative Shiite alliance to block al-Iraqiya's path to government. “These Nevruz meetings seriously disturbed us,” he said. “If the scenario debated at those meetings is implemented, that is, if we see a coalition of the State of Law Alliance, the Iraqi National Alliance and the Kurdistan Alliance, the results will be very dangerous. Then, we will have a sectarian government,” he added. “We may then return to those days when people were killed because of their sectarian identity.”

Despite the hard feelings towards Iran, however, al-Hashemi firmly opposed possible military measures against the Shiite neighbor due to disagreements between Tehran and the West over its nuclear program, calling for a diplomatic solution instead.

Al-Hashemi is the latest Iraqi official to visit Ankara following the March 7 parliamentary election. A number of representatives from al-Hashemi's al-Iraqiya, the Iraqi National Alliance and the Kurdistan Alliance have had talks with Turkish officials in the past weeks.

Earlier this month, al-Maliki criticized Iraq's neighbors for meddling in the country's internal affairs. He did not name any country, but many saw this as targeting Turkey, which has successfully worked in the past to ensure the participation of Sunnis in the political process in post-war Iraq.

Al-Hashemi, on the other hand, praised Turkey's stance, saying it is unbiased towards all Iraqi groups and that it wants stability in Iraq, which, he said, could be maintained only if constitutional principles are upheld.

The al-Iraqiya coalition is viewed with skepticism by the majority Shiites, who suspect that an al-Iraqiya government would mean the return of Baathists to power. Iraqi Kurds, for their part, are wary of anti-Kurdish figures in the coalition, such as Usama al-Nujaifi. They are also at odds with al-Hashemi, who says the Iraqi presidency should go to a Sunni Arab this time. Jalal Talabani, an ethnic Kurd, is now the president of Iraq.

Al-Hashemi insisted that al-Iraqiya would not give up on its quest to form the government, saying it is a right granted by law as well as past practice. “We are loyal to the constitution, which says the party that wins the most votes has the right to form the government. We are insistent on exercising our rights,” he said.