IRAQ’S Prime Minister Ali Falih al Zaidi has appealed to Christians living abroad to return to Iraq, describing their homecoming as a national priority and pledging government support to help rebuild the country’s historic Christian presence, the online Christian news agency Shalom World News reports.
During a meeting with Chaldean Patriarch Paul III Nona, al Zaidi said that Christian families who return would be eligible for Iraq’s one-million residential land plot initiative. He emphasized that Iraq’s strength lies in its ethnic, religious, and cultural diversity, calling Christians “an active and essential component” of society whose contributions have shaped the nation’s past and will remain vital to its future.
Paul III Nona aka Archbishop Amel Nona, is an Australian and leader of the Chaldean Diocese of Saint Thomas the Apostle in Australia and New Zealand. He was elected as the new Patriarch of the Chaldean Church in April this year.
The Iraqi Prime Minister also invited Christian entrepreneurs and investors in the diaspora to participate in Iraq’s reconstruction, particularly in the healthcare and education sectors, Shalon World News reported.
He pledged continued government support to help ensure the success of these investment projects, stimulate economic growth, and generate employment.
Patriarch Nona welcomed the initiative, saying it sends a strong message of reassurance to Iraqi Christians abroad, strengthens confidence in the country’s future, and encourages business leaders to contribute to the country’s development.
Syriac Orthodox Archbishop Nicodemus Matti Sharaf also welcomed the appeal, describing it as an official recognition of Christians’ rightful place in their ancestral homeland. However, he cautioned that symbolic invitations alone would not reverse decades of emigration.
Iraq held its last parliamentary election on 11 November 2025. The election determined the 329 members of Iraq’s Council of Representatives. The outcome led to an intense government formation process because no single political bloc won a decisive majority.
In April this year the newly elected parliament held an indirect election and chose Kurdish politician Nizar Amedi as Iraq’s new President.
In May President Amedi appointed al-Zaidi, a businessman, to form a government, and Parliament subsequently approved his initial cabinet.
According to Al Jazeerah news agency, Al-Zaidi was named as the candidate of the Coordination Framework, a coalition of Shia parties that has a majority in parliament. His nomination sees him promoted over a pro-Iranian rival.
So it appears that the new Iraq PM is not pro-Iran, which would ostensibly put him on side with Israel and certainly the US.