Last Wednesday, during an official meeting between the Jordanian and Iraqi agriculture ministers, Jordan placed flag of Saddam’s era on the table. The move angered Iraqis, prompting a wave of reactions in cyberspace. They considered this behavior an attack on their national sovereignty and described it as a significant move.
Iraqi Agriculture Minister Mohammed al-Khafaji said on Friday that he was surprised to see the former Iraqi flag shortly before the signing of a co-operation agreement with his Jordanian counterpart. Therefore, he did not accept the signing of the contract and made it conditional on changing the flag and placing the current Iraqi flag. The Iraqi embassy in Jordan later admitted responsibility for the mistake, and Jordan apologized last night for the incident.
The Jordanian Ministry of Agriculture also said in a statement that it had received information about a protocol error during a meeting between Jordanian Minister of Agriculture Khalid al-Hanifat and his Iraqi counterpart Mohammed al-Khafaji on Wednesday.
The ministry added that the mistake included placing the Iraqi flag during a meeting between the two ministers, which contained the words “Allah Akbar” in Kufic green and three stars before removing them in the latest amendment.
The ministry stressed that it was an unintentional mistake to talk about it because Jordan respects the choices of the Iraqi people and supports them because of a prosperous and strong Iraq.
As soon as the photos of the meeting and the flag were published, social media activists reacted widely, emphasizing the firm rejection of the behavior, which some believed was a violation of Iraqi sovereignty. Users believed that the move was under pressure from the United States and the remnants of the ousted Ba’athist regime, who live in Amman and are led by Saddam’s militant daughter.
Alihusseinbezan wrote on his Twitter account: “Look at the response of the spokesman of the Jordanian Ministry of Agriculture about placing the flag of the overthrown Iraqi regime in the meeting. He says it was an unintentional mistake! First, the minister did not apologize for this mistake, second. “The mistake was 100% deliberate because it is impossible for the Jordanian government not to know what the Iraqi flag looks like!”
