Republic of Iraq

Ottoman Antecedents and the Iraqi Kingdom

The modern state emerged from territory formerly governed by the Ottoman Empire. British administration after the First World War and a League of Nations mandate preceded the kingdom’s international independence. The mandate ended in 1932, after American recognition and the establishment of diplomatic relations. [1]

From Legation to Embassy

The United States recognized Iraq in January 1930, while the country remained under a British mandate, and established diplomatic relations in March 1931. A resident Iraqi mission in Washington followed in 1942. The legation opened on 27 April, and Ali Jawdat presented his credentials as minister on 4 May. [1] [2]

The exchange of ambassadors required agreement about diplomatic precedence. In October 1946, Washington offered to elevate the missions if Iraq accorded the American ambassador the rank customary elsewhere; Britain had relinquished its own ambassador's special precedence in Baghdad. Iraq's Washington legation became an embassy on 7 March 1947, and ambassadorial credentials followed on 11 April. The brief Arab Union with Jordan in 1958 did not replace Iraq's bilateral representation: the union left the two kingdoms' external affairs in their existing hands, and their separate relations with the United States continued. [3] [2] [1]

Union, Revolution, and Baathist Rule

The kingdom’s brief Arab Union with Jordan ended after the revolution of July 1958. The new republic withdrew from the Baghdad Pact and altered Iraq’s foreign alignments. Coups and conflict followed before the Baath Party consolidated power after 1968; Saddam Hussein became president in 1979. [7] [8]

Work through an Interests Section

Iraq broke diplomatic relations during the Arab-Israeli war in June 1967. An Iraqi interests section subsequently worked in Washington through the Indian Embassy. By April 1973, its head, Salim Yusuf Mansoor, was trying to restore direct cable communications with Baghdad because routing most telegrams through the Indian mission had proved cumbersome. In a meeting with American diplomat Edward Djerejian, Mansoor also obtained the forms needed for Iraq to join Intelsat, the international satellite communications organization. [1] [4]

The interests section occupied the old Iraqi embassy building. Mansoor showed Djerejian rooms in serious disrepair and described plans to seek money to refurbish both the office and the chief of mission's residence. The same conversation turned to visas for an Iraqi delegation negotiating a Boeing aircraft purchase in Seattle. [4]

Restorations and Another Rupture

President Ronald Reagan and Iraqi Foreign Minister Tariq Aziz agreed to restore relations on 26 November 1984. Both interests sections became embassies that day, with their heads serving as chargés d'affaires while ambassadors were appointed. This restoration lasted until the Gulf War. Following Iraq's invasion of Kuwait and the outbreak of fighting with the coalition led by the United States, Iraq again severed diplomatic relations in February 1991; limited representation continued through interests sections. [5] [1]

A coalition led by the United States and Britain invaded Iraq on 20 March 2003 and captured Baghdad in April. The Coalition Provisional Authority then administered the occupation under American leadership. Its dissolution in 2004 accompanied the transfer of authority to an Iraqi interim government. [1]

Full diplomatic relations returned on 28 June 2004, when the Iraqi Interim Government assumed sovereign authority and the Coalition Provisional Authority ceased to exist. In an exchange of letters, President George W. Bush proposed permanent diplomatic missions effective on that transfer, and Prime Minister Ayad Allawi confirmed his government's agreement. [6]

The Constitutional State after Occupation

The constitution adopted by referendum in October 2005 established a new framework for elected government and recognized the Kurdistan Region. It did not settle disputes over the distribution of power, resources, and territorial authority. [9]

The rise of the Islamic State brought renewed American military operations in 2014. In a September report to Congress, President Barack Obama described airstrikes and the deployment of additional personnel to advise and assist Iraqi forces, including the Kurdish Peshmerga. He stated that the Iraqi government had requested the assistance and that operations were coordinated with it. [11]

The April 2024 American–Iraqi joint statement joined security negotiations to energy supplies, financial reform, and relations between Baghdad and the Kurdistan Regional Government. It reaffirmed Iraq’s sovereignty while setting out a process to discuss the coalition’s future. [10]

Related Reading

• Iraq and the United States