Iraqi Deputy Premier Tarek Azio said here today he regretted that his country had to wage war against Iron and stressed that the main struggle for Iraq was against “Zionism.”
The Iraqi envoy, who came here to present his country’s views to President Valery Giscard d’Estaing, said the conflict against Iran would continue until Iraq could recover sovereignty of its territories “usurped” by the Iranians who violated the 1975 Algiers agreements. “Our soldiers wish to return home rapidly and prefer to fight against Israel,” the minister said.
Asked if Iraq accepted mediation offers to end the conflict, the minister said: “Yes, from everyone except from Israel and from the United States which we consider as an enemy of the Arab people.”
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.