Iraq has once again announced its opposition with Israel’s occupation of Palestine and also establishment of ties with Tel Aviv regime.

In a statement issued on Saturday, Foreign Ministry spokesman Ahmad al-Sahaf said, “We reaffirm that Iraq’s position on the Palestinian issue is the same as our principled and historical position of rejecting the Israeli occupation of the Arab land.”

The statement added that Iraq stands firm in its “rejection of all forms of normalization with this entity,” adding that the Arab state remains “committed to the principle of boycott” of the regime.

The clarification came after Fareed Yasseen, the Iraqi ambassador to the United States, was quoted in media reports as hinting that there was potential for relations between Baghdad and Tel Aviv.

The reports surfaced after a video clip was released on social media earlier this week, showing him speaking with state-run Al-Iraqiya TV.

The envoy said in the video, “There are objective reasons that call for the establishment of relations between Iraq and Israel, including the presence of a significant Iraqi community in Israel,” he said in the video released this week.

He, however, said the objective factors are not enough to establish ties with the Israeli regime because there are “moral and legal reasons which Iraqis comply with.”

In response to the reports, the Iraqi Parliament’s Foreign Relations Committee called on the Foreign Ministry to “ensure the statements of its employees and representatives in the Iraqi diplomatic missions are in line with the foreign policy of the government.”

The Foreign Ministry statement criticized certain media outlets — which he did not name — for “inappropriately” quoting Yasseen.

The statement further said, “Countries and media give special importance to the Palestine issue, which is a key focus of conferences and meetings attended by our representatives and delegations abroad,” but certain statements of the officials appear out of context in reports.

Iraq’s position on the Palestinian cause has been outspokenly outlined by officials of various standing across the country’s political spectrum.

Over the past years, many key Arab states have dropped their traditional positions as supporters of the Palestinian cause, giving Israeli officials entrée into their countries or even allowing their own officials to travel to the Israeli-occupied territories.