"Yes. Israel is a state and I support peace with it," Al-Alusi said in the interview, which was translated by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI).

"I want to see an [Iraqi] embassy [in Israel] and the Iraqi flag flying atop it. This is in our interest. I do not want to tie our interests [solely] to Abu Mazen" and the Palestinian Authority, he said.

Iran, according to Al-Alusi, "is the most insane actor, which gambles with the lives of its sons, its people, and its history in order to [realize] the Iranian leaders' false vision. It is inconceivable that Iran will control the region someday, and it does not have the power to do so."

Regarding the emergence of Islamic State, he said, "This crisis is not only Iraq's. We must fight our internal mentality—the mentality of vengeance and nullification of the other [that] created ISIS, the criminal terrorist organization that harms Islam and that committed a criminal terrorist act in Kuwait against our Kuwaiti sons, friends, neighbors, and brothers, and the [terrorist] actions in Tunisia, Egypt, Syria, and elsewhere."

"It is our creation, not a Western or European or Crusader or Jewish or Israeli creation. It is a creation of the Arabs and Muslims, because we have failed to protect our society and have allowed these extremist views to exist," he added.

Reprinted with permission via JNS.org.

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