Iraq–Italy relations

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Iraqi–Italian relations
Map indicating locations of Iraq and Italy

Iraq
Italy

Iraqi–Italian relations are the interstate ties relations between Iraq and Italy. Iraq has an embassy in Rome and Italy had an embassy in Baghdad and a consulate-general in Basra.

History

Large areas of Arabia came under the Roman Empire

From Iraq's independence (1932) to the Ba'ath revolution (1968)

See also: Anglo-Iraqi War

In June 1940, when

Mohammad Amin al-Husayni, the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem. The Grand Mufti had fled from Palestine shortly before the outbreak of war and later received asylum in Baghdad.[2]

Following the 1941 Iraqi coup d'état, the immediate plans of Iraq's new leaders were to refuse further concessions to the United Kingdom, to retain diplomatic links with Fascist Italy, and to expel most prominent pro-British politicians from the country.

In the aftermath of the

Muslim volunteers in the Balkans for the Waffen SS.[citation needed
]

Iran–Iraq war

Main article: Italian support for Iraq during the Iran–Iraq war

Relations between the two strengthened when Italy sent economic and naval assistance to Saddam Hussein in the Iran–Iraq War in the 1980s.

Italy provided substantial supplies to Iraq during the Iran–Iraq War. Its greatest impact, however, was financial, with the U.S. branch of the state-owned, largest bank, Banca Nazionale del Lavoro (BNL) in Italy providing several billion dollars in funding for Iraqi military procurement. Italy also was a primary supplier to the Iraqi nuclear program, although that was not of direct effect on the Iran–Iraq War.

With respect to conventional military supplies, Italy provided land and sea mines to both Iraq and Iran. Iraq had ordered naval vessels and helicopters from Italy, although the ships were seized under the embargo.

In 1990 Roberto Formigoni garnered attention when he was involved in a mission to Iraq which successfully concluded with the freeing of some Italian technicians who were held hostages of the local government.

The 1991 Gulf War

Italy, along with other European and non-aligned states, supported the January 1991 French proposal of a UN resolution calling for "a rapid and massive withdrawal" from Kuwait along with a statement to Iraq that Council members would bring their "active contribution" to a settlement of other problems of the region, "in particular, of the Arab-Israeli conflict and in particular to the Palestinian problem by convening, at an appropriate moment, an international conference" to assure "the security, stability and development of this region of the world.". The U.S. and Britain rejected it (along with the Soviet Union, irrelevantly).[3][4][5]

Italy then joined the

Operation Desert Storm.[6]

Saddam Hussein's last period (1991–2003)

Iraq and Italy agreed to enhance parliamentary relations during a meeting in mid-2000, between acting Iraqi National Assembly (parliament) Speaker Hamid Rashid Al-Rawee and a visiting Italian parliamentary delegation. Al-Rawee reviewed Iraq's relations with Italy and expressed hope of expanding them in all fields, the official

decade-old U.N. sanctions
.

Oil-for-food
scandal, when he bought 1,000,000 oil barrels (160,000 m3).

The involvement of Italy in the 2003 invasion of Iraq

Main article:
Operation Ancient Babylon

In January 2003, activists of the

Muammar al-Gaddafi.[8] The Radicals later strongly opposed the execution of Saddam Hussein and of Tariq Aziz.[7]

The Berlusconi government then totally backed the United States in their attempt to obtain a UN mandate for the 2003 invasion of Iraq. In February 2003,

had ties to al-Qaeda. As a follow-up to Powell's presentation, the United States, United Kingdom, Poland, Italy, Australia, Denmark, Japan, and Spain proposed a resolution authorizing the use of force in Iraq, but NATO members like Canada, France, and Germany, together with Russia, strongly urged continued diplomacy. Facing a losing vote as well as a likely veto from France and Russia, the US, UK, Spain, Poland, Denmark, Italy, Japan, and Australia eventually withdrew their resolution.[9][10]

In March 2003, the United States, United Kingdom, Spain, Australia, Poland, Denmark, and Italy began

war in Afghanistan (2001–2021)
, this war had no explicit UN authorisation.

Due to the

Iraqi Central Bank and those still held in the Museum, has suffered as a result both of the war and of poor conservation conditions. Some of the most precious objects were restored by the Istituto Centrale per il Restauro team in 2004, immediately after the installation of a new restoration workshop provided by the Italian Ministry of Culture.[12]

The 2003 Nasiriyah bombing was a suicide attack on the Italian military police headquarters in Nasiriyah, Iraq, south of Baghdad on November 12, 2003. At least 28 people were killed, including 17 Italian carabinieri, two Italian civilians, and nine Iraqi civilians. More than 100 people were injured, including 19 Italian soldiers. The attack was the worst incident involving Italian soldiers since

Operation Restore Hope in Somalia and the highest loss of Italian soldiers since World War II
.

The

United States of America
.

Italian troops pulled out of Iraq in 2006, following the establishment of the Prodi government in Italy.

Iraqi diaspora in Italy

Main article: Iraqi diaspora § Italy

The current population of Iraqis in Italy stands at around 17,300; however one source claims there to be 56,300, which is approximately 50 families.[13] Most of these are priests, nuns and seminarians who have come to pursue their studies in Italy.[14] The majority are residents of Rome.

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Playfair (1956), p. 177
  2. ^ Churchill, p. 224
  3. ^ See Paul Lewis, "Confrontation in the Gulf: The U.N.; France and 3 Arab States Issue an Appeal to Hussein," New York Times, January 15, 1991, p. A12
  4. ^ Michael Kranish et al., "World waits on brink of war: Late effort at diplomacy in gulf fails," Boston Globe, January 16, 1991, p. 1
  5. ^ Ellen Nimmons, A.P., "Last-ditch pitches for peace; But U.S. claims Iraqis hold key," Houston Chronicle, January 15, 1991, p. 1
  6. ^ "The Unfinished War: A Decade Since Desert Storm". CNN In-Depth Specials. 2001. Archived from the original on March 17, 2008. Retrieved 2008-04-05.
  7. ^ a b (in Italian) http://www.radioradicale.it/esilio-saddam-era-pronto-ma-si-scelse-la-guerra Archived 2018-06-15 at the Wayback Machine Radio Radicale
  8. ^ "Radicali Italiani". Archived from the original on 2011-09-02. Retrieved 2011-01-15.
  9. ^ "US, Britain and Spain Abandon Resolution". Associated Press. 2003-03-17. Retrieved 2006-08-06.
  10. ^ "Bush: Iraq is playing 'willful charade'". CNN. 2003-03-07. Retrieved 2006-08-06.
  11. ^ "President Says Saddam Hussein Must Leave Iraq Within 48 Hours" (Press release). White House Office of the Press Secretary. March 17, 2003. Retrieved 2010-07-28.
  12. ^ "Italy for Iraq - Cultural heritage and activities". Archived from the original on 2011-07-22. Retrieved 2008-08-25.
  13. ^ ""Global Overview Statistics Report" states that there are 94,300 ethnic Iraqis living in Italy" (PDF). unhcr.org. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 13, 2007. Retrieved 2007-09-07.
  14. ^ ""Asia News" states that there are 1,068 ethnic Iraqis living in Italy". asianews.it. Retrieved 2007-09-07.

External links

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