Press Statement

Coinciding with the declaration of October 3rd as National Day of the Republic of Iraq, Rare documents presented from archives of the League of Nations in Geneva, regarding this historic day.The General Assembly of the League of Nations agreed on October 3, 1932, to accept Iraq as a member of the League of Nations upon the request submitted by the Iraqi Kingdom with the signature of former Prime Minister Nouri Pasha Al-Saeed on July 12, 1932, becoming the first Arab state to join this international organization at the time. The documents of the General Assembly of the League of Nations indicate that the acceptance of Iraq’s Admission to it came after Iraq had acquired the elements of statehood, which are represented by international recognition, the existence of an independent government capable of conducting and managing the affairs of the state in an orderly manner, preserving its unity and independence, maintaining security nationwide, and the state has sufficient financial resources to meet Its government expenditures, has laws, judicial organization, fixed borders, and Iraq pledges to respect its international obligations.Iraq was the first country to join the League of Nations under Article 22 of the Covenant of the League of Nations regarding tutelage and mandate, after it became eligible to leave the state of the British Mandate placed after the collapse of the Ottoman Empire.Below are rare documents presented from the archives of the League of Nations: 1- Report of the Sixth Committee submitted to the General Assembly of the League of Nations, dated 1/10/1932, regarding Iraq’s Admission to the League of Nations.2- The letter of the former Iraqi Foreign Minister Jaafar al-Askari to the Secretary-General of the League of Nations on October 17, 1932, in which he refers to informing Iraq of the decision of the General Assembly of the League of Nations regarding the Admission.3- A photo of the session of the General Assembly of the League of Nations in Geneva on 3/10/1932, in which it adopted the acceptance of Iraq’s Admission.

Foreign Ministry Spokesperson

Dr. Ahmed Al Sahhaf

2/10/2021