The Italian AKI Press News Agency held an interview with Mr. Zaid Al-Talaqani, Chairman of Al-Rafidain Center for Dialogue RCD. During his visit to Rome as part of the European tour of the delegation of RCD, Mr. Al-Talaqani confirmed to AKI that Iraq preceded all Arab countries in facing crises; for that reason it was the first country to experience democratic change in 2003, which was an evitable event, stressing that most regimes in the region are going to experience it eventually. Furthermore, Mr. Al-Talaqani described Iraq as an elder brother for the countries in the Middle East, and that all ongoing conflicts are happening along its borders, affirming the importance of geographic, religious and economic ties with Iraq's eastern neighbor, Iran. Moreover, Iraq has achieved victory over ISIS that established a "delusional state" that collapsed instantly when all Iraqi components united to fight them.
Afkar (Ideas) Magazine also interviewed Mr. Al-Talaqani in Barcelona, where he tackled the democratic experience in Iraq, its stages and how regional and international factors influenced it. Mr. Al-Talaqani said that Iraq's democratic experience came as a choice by the Iraqi people who made sacrifices in order to gain freedom, indicating that the Iraqi government is able to play a major role in unlocking or mitigating USA-Iran crisis in order to avoid what this conflict can bring to Iraq and the whole region as well. Furthermore, Mr. Al-Talaqani highlighted RCD's prominent activities and the great success of RCD Forum 2019-Baghdad, which was held in February, and the preparations to hold RCD Economic and Security Forum in the coming September of 2019.