UN envoy warns more attacks on Iraq threaten its hard-won stability

By EDITH M. LEDERER
Associated Press

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Iraq’s government is focused on avoiding a domestic or regional spillover of the Israel-Hamas war but continuing attacks on the country threaten its hard-won stability, the U.N. envoy for Iraq is warning. With war raging in Gaza, Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert told the U.N. Security Council Tuesday “the Middle East is at a critical juncture” and “the same is true for Iraq.” She said attacks originating from inside and outside Iraq, if they continue, will not only undo the country’s stability but “other achievements made in the past 18 months.” Hennis-Plasschaert urged restraint from Iraq’s armed groups, its neighbor and other countries, calling this “crucial” for the country’s stability and progress. “It is of greatest importance that all attacks cease,” she said.