The UK’s relationship with Iraq is a deep and longstanding one, the British Embassy in Baghdad told The New Region on Monday, adding that recently, certain comments from the British Ambassador have been misunderstood.

“It is unfortunate some of our Ambassador’s comments have been misunderstood out of context,” the British Embassy told The New Region, specifically indicating that they were refering to the comments being misunderstood generally and not the Iraqi Foreign Ministry.

“Our relationship with the Iraqi state is a deep and longstanding one, built today on a modern, forward looking partnership. We are excited to continue to work together,” they added.

The statement comes after the Iraqi Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned the British Embassy’s chargé d'affaires, Ruth Coverdale, on Sunday, to express its dissatisfaction with recent statements made by the British ambassador to Iraq, Stephen Hitchen. 

The protest was issued in response to remarks by Hitchen that the ministry said portrayed Iraq’s security and political landscape in a negative light, which it considered an infringement on Iraq’s internal affairs and a breach of diplomatic protocol.

The Iraqi Foreign Ministry did not provide context about what exact statement from Ambassador Hitchen they were referring to.

The New Region asked the British Embassy about the context of the meeting and what exactly had triggered the Iraqi Foreign Ministry’s summoning of the British diplomat, though they did not provide details.

The opposition to Hitchen’s comments did not stop at the Foreign Ministry.

The State of Law coalition, one of the key parts of the Coordination Framework alliance forming the current Iraqi cabinet, expressed their discontent over the ambassador’s comments.

The statement from State of Law said that Ambassador Hitchens had overstepped his role through the comments, and claimed that he had indirectly tried to deliver a “message of normalization (with Israel)”.