The spokesman for Iraq’s presidential office said it is difficult for his country to remain neutral in the new confrontation between the United States and the Islamic Republic, and warned that any further escalation, whether Iraq wants it or not, will place the country at the center of events.

Khaled al-Yaequbi, spokesman for Iraq’s presidential office and political adviser to the president, said in an interview with Al Jazeera that the recent war “went beyond the limit and did not respect agreements and international charters.”

He described brokering between the Islamic Republic and the United States as “greater than Iraq’s capacity” and added that the Iraqi government cannot currently play a mediating role.

Al-Yaequbi said that in his meeting with Donald Trump, the president of the United States, Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaydi “convinced the American side to extend the arms delivery deadline until the 9th of Tir 1406.”