BAGHDAD - Iraq's Foreign Ministry summoned the Lebanese ambassador to Iraq Ali al-Habhab on Wednesday to protest comments by Lebanese President Joseph Aoun regarding the Iraqi paramilitary Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF).

In a statement, the ministry expressed dissatisfaction over Aoun's remarks in a recent media interview, during which he dismissed the idea of replicating the PMF model to integrate Hezbollah into the Lebanese army.

Mohammed Bahr AlUloom, Iraqi Deputy Foreign Minister for Bilateral Relations, said that the PMF is an important part of the Iraqi military security system and is a governmental and legal institution, and part of the Iraqi state system, according to the ministry statement.

He said it would have been better not to involve Iraq in Lebanon's internal crisis or use an official Iraqi institution as an example in the context.

He also expressed hope that the Lebanese president would correct this statement, in a way that strengthens fraternal relations between the two countries and affirms respect for each country's privacy.

For his part, al-Habhab reaffirmed the depth of Lebanese-Iraqi relations, pledging to convey Iraq's concerns to Aoun and to work to correct the situation, thus contributing to the preservation and development of bilateral relations, the statement added.