By MICHAEL S. SCHMIDT and YASIR GHAZI
BAGHDAD — After months of striking a far friendlier tone toward the government of President Bashar al-Assad of Syria, the Iraqi government has joined a chorus of other nations calling on him to step down.
An adviser to the Iraqi prime minister, Nuri Kamal al-Maliki, said in an interview on Tuesday that the Iraqi government had sent messages to Mr. Assad that said he should resign.
“We believe that the Syrian people should have more freedom and have the right to experience democracy,” said the adviser, Ali al-Moussawi. “We are against the one-party rule and the dictatorship that hasn’t allowed for the freedom of expression.”
The statements from Mr. Moussawi mark a significant change for Iraq. When the United States and several of its major allies called in August for Mr. Assad to cede power, the Iraqi government appeared to be more in line with Iran, which has supported Mr. Assad. The same day as the American statement, Mr. Maliki gave a speech warning Arab leaders that Israel would benefit the most from the Arab Spring.
“There is no doubt that there is a country that is waiting for the Arab countries to be ripped and is waiting for internal corrosion,” Mr. Maliki said in that speech. “Zionists and Israel are the first and biggest beneficiaries of this whole process.”
As violence began to spread across Syria in June, Mr. Maliki received a delegation of visiting Syrian businesspeople and government officials, including the foreign minister, to discuss closer economic ties between the two countries. At the time, Mr. Maliki called on Syrians to stick to peaceful protests and rely on the government to enact reforms.
Mr. Moussawi said that the Iraqi government had long wanted Mr. Assad to step down, but he declined to say why the government had not expressed its position publicly until Tuesday. Iraq and Syria have been adversaries in the past, particularly at the height of sectarian conflict here, when many Iraqi leaders, including Mr. Maliki, said the Syrians were allowing foreign fighters and suicide bombers to cross its border into Iraq.
But last year, analysts said, Iran pressed Mr. Assad to support Mr. Maliki for another term as prime minister, and since then Iraq and Syria have strengthened their economic and diplomatic relations.
Mr. Moussawi said Tuesday that the Iraqi government was concerned that if Mr. Assad’s government collapses, violence will spill over the border and further destabilize Iraq, which is still dealing with violent attacks nearly every day. On Tuesday, suicide bombers attacked a government compound in Anbar Province, which borders Syria, killed three policemen and wounded several civilians.
The Iraqi government has asked American officials about the United States’ plans should Mr. Assad resign, Mr. Moussawi said.
“Our goals are the same as the United States has in changing the regime,” he said. “The only difference is the way to achieve these goals. I don’t know how you can guarantee what will happen in Syria if there is a sudden change. I’m sure there will be a civil war and lots of chaos.”
Mr. Moussawi said there was a danger that Syria would plunge into a sectarian conflict similar to the one that engulfed Iraq after the United States-led invasion overthrew Saddam Hussein in 2003.
“The sudden change will create lots of chaos, because they have a divided army and a divided people in Syria, and this is going to create a civil war,” he said. An estimated 2,600 people have been killed in Syria as security forces have cracked down on antigovernment protests over the past six months. Leaders of other Arab nations said little about the violence at first, but many have since condemned the killings.
In recent weeks, there has been an apparent recalibration by the Iranian government toward Syria.
Throughout the Arab Spring, the Iranians have remained Syria’s closest ally. But two weeks ago, Iranian leaders called on Mr. Assad to institute some reforms, in part, analysts said, to try to stabilize his presidency and to improve Iran’s image in the Arab world.