The Embassy of Iraq in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, (officially the Embassy of The Republic Of Iraq ) (

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

: سفرية جمهورية العراق في لندن) is the

diplomatic mission A diplomatic mission or foreign mission is a group of people from a state or organization present in another state to represent the sending state or organization officially in the receiving or host state. In practice, the phrase usually denotes ...

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. It was opened at its current site in 2012, having been closed since 2003 with the start of the

Iraq War The Iraq War (), also referred to as the Second Gulf War, was a prolonged conflict in Iraq lasting from 2003 to 2011. It began with 2003 invasion of Iraq, the invasion by a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition, which ...

Other offices

Iraq also maintains a Consular Section at 3

Elvaston Place Elvaston Place is a street in South Kensington, London. Elvaston Place runs west to east from Gloucester Road to Queen's Gate. The High Commission of Gabon, London, is at number 27. The High Commission of Mauritius, London, is at number 32/ ...

South Kensington South Kensington is a district at the West End of Central London in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Historically it settled on part of the scattered Middlesex village of Brompton. Its name was supplanted with the advent of the ra ...

, a Military Attaché Office at 48 Gunnersbury Avenue,

Gunnersbury Gunnersbury is an area of West London, England. Toponymy The name "Gunnersbury" originally meant "Gunner's (Gunnar's) fort", and is a combination of an old Scandinavian personal name + Middle English -''bury'', meaning, "fort", or "fortified ...

, a Cultural Attaché's Office at 14–15 Child's Place,

Earl's Court Earl's Court is a district of Kensington in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in West London, bordering the rail tracks of the West London line and District line that separate it from the ancient borough of Fulham to the west, the ...

and a Commercial Attaché Office at 20

Queen's Gate Queen's Gate is a street in South Kensington, London, England. It runs south from Kensington Gardens' Queen's Gate (the edge of which gardens are here followed by Kensington Road) to Old Brompton Road, intersecting Cromwell Road. The street i ...

, London, adjacent to the main embassy building. The Commercial Attaché Office was previously located at 7–10

Leadenhall Street __NOTOC__ Leadenhall Street () is a street in the City of London. It is about and links Cornhill, London, Cornhill in the west to Aldgate in the east. It was formerly the start of the A11 road (England), A11 road from London to Norwich, but th ...

, London, the freehold of which is still held by the Iraqi Ministry of Foreign Affairs, although the property has remained vacant since the relocation. The

Kurdistan Regional Government The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) is the official executive body of the semi-autonomous Kurdistan Region in northern Iraq. The cabinet is selected by the majority party or list who also select the prime minister of the Iraqi Kurdish poli ...

also maintains an office at 2 Hobart Place,

Belgravia Belgravia () is a district in Central London, covering parts of the areas of the City of Westminster and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Belgravia was known as the 'Five Fields' during the Tudor Period, and became a dangerous pla ...

History

Whilst preparing for the re-opening of the embassy in 2005, Iraqi diplomats found numerous guns, ammunition and surveillance equipment hidden in the embassy. It is assumed that these were left over from Iraqi agents during the

Saddam Hussein Saddam Hussein (28 April 1937 – 30 December 2006) was an Iraqi politician and revolutionary who served as the fifth president of Iraq from 1979 until Saddam Hussein statue destruction, his overthrow in 2003 during the 2003 invasion of Ira ...

-era. Iraqi agents had been implicated in several attempted assassinations in the capital during the 1970s–1980s, including the assassination of former Iraqi Prime Minister Abd ar-Razzaq an-Naif in 1978.

References

External links

Official site
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Diplomatic missions of Iraq Iraq–United Kingdom relations Buildings and structures in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea South Kensington