31 January 2017, 17:40 GMT
The Iraqi Parliament’s foreign committee had voted in favor of retaliation over the weekend, calling for a ban on US nationals entering their country. Such a move would put a damper on the fight against extremists, as it would ban thousands of American aid workers, contractors, journalists, and military personnel.
“Iraq is on the front line of the war on terrorism,” according to the committee. “It is unfair that the Iraqis are treated in this way.”
However, when asked during a Tuesday news conference if he would act on what parliament had voted for, al-Abadi asserted “we will not do anything of the sort.”
"We are studying (possible) decisions but we are in a battle and we don't want to harm the national interest," he added.
There are currently over 5,000 US troops deployed in Iraq providing critical ground and air support to Iraqi troops fighting Daesh.
Iraq is one of seven nations impacted by Trump’s temporary halt to immigration as new vetting processes are put into place.
