Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Bahram Qassemi deplored US President Donald Trump’s secret visit to Iraq as “a move in violation of diplomatic norms and a disrespect for the country’s national sovereignty”.

As underlined by (US President Donald) Trump and despite countless interventions and thousands of billions of dollars the US has spent on its illegitimate presence in the region, particularly in Iraq, and despite the irreparable damages to the dignity of the American people, Trump still has to visit a regional country in a total secret and sneaky way amid the tightest security measures, Qassemi said in a statement on Friday.

Trump’s visit was strongly opposed by the Iraqi people, ignored by Iraqi officials, and criticized by experts, the spokesman added.

He further slammed Trump’s “meddlesome and opportunistic” remarks in Iraq and said, “Regional governments and nations will never allow aggressive and hated aliens to sow division among them.”

“It was the vigilant nations of the region – not the greedy US and its all-out support for terrorism – who managed to uproot terrorist groups created, equipped and financed by the US and the Zionists…,” Qassemi noted.

Trump made an unannounced three-hour visit to the Ain al-Asad Air Base near Baghdad on Wednesday, sparking a wave of condemnations from Iraqi political and military leaders, with some of them demanding the expulsion of US forces.

It was Trump’s first visit to troops in a war zone since becoming president.

He acknowledged security concerns about visiting Iraq, saying it was “pretty sad” that he needed such secrecy to see US troops.

“Pretty sad when you spend $7 trillion in the Middle East, and going in has to be under this massive cover with planes all over and all of the greatest equipment in the world and you do everything to get in safely,” he said.

A scheduled meeting between Trump and Iraqi Prime Minister Adil Abdul-Mahdi was scrapped and they only talked over the phone.