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BAGHDAD—Iraq on Sunday asked Saudi Arabia to replace its ambassador to the country, accusing him of trying to interfere with its internal politics.

The formal request made by Iraqi Foreign Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari's office is a culmination of complaints in recent months that the ambassador, Thamer al-Sabhan, from the Sunni-majority Saudi kingdom sought to diminish the influence of Iranian-leaning Shiite groups in Iraq.

"The Saudi ambassador himself made many violations in his diplomatic role in Iraq. He interfered badly in many Iraqi internal affairs and he tried to bring into Iraq the problems between his country and Iran," said Ahmed Jamal, Iraq's foreign ministry spokesman. "Today we submitted the letter through our ambassador in Saudi Arabia."

Iraq's Shiite-dominated government has warm relations with Iran, Saudi Arabia's arch rival in the region.

Mr. Jamal said the request was made in coordination with Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi's office. "We are eager to have a good relationship with Saudi Arabia, but this ambassador is a stumbling block," Mr. Jamal said.

The two countries broke diplomatic ties in 1991 after Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait and fired rockets into Saudi Arabia. Since then they have slowly re-established a formal relationship and Saudi Arabia opened its embassy in Baghdad for the first time in decades in December 2015.

The decision to reopen the Saudi embassy was opposed from the start by most of the Iraq's predominantly Shiite militias, established as military forces in the wake of Islamic State's takeover of Mosul. Many of the Hashed al-Shaabi militias, also known as Popular Mobilization Forces, have close ties to Iran. Media arms of many militias accused Mr. Sabhan of having an anti-militia agenda as soon as he assumed his post.

In January, when Saudi Arabia beheaded Shiite cleric Nemer al-Nemer after finding him guilty of incitement against the state, thousands of protesters converged on the diplomatic enclave in Baghdad to protest close to the new Saudi embassy.

In the following months, the Saudi ambassador publicly criticized Shiite militias' motivations and conduct in Sunni-dominant areas of Iraq like Anbar province, saying the militias aren't official government forces and they should be dissolved. At least one prominent militia leader called for the ambassador's assassination.

One week ago, the ambassador said an assassination attempt against him failed and accused the Iraqi government on his Twitter feed of not providing him with adequate protection or access to armored vehicles. Iraqi officials said there had been no such attempt and challenged the ambassador to provide proof.

On Aug. 23, lawmakers from the Dawa Party, a party led by Prime Minister Abadi, called on Iraqi Foreign Minister Jaafari to demand the Saudi ambassador's replacement or face his own vote of no confidence in parliament.

The Saudi ambassador said Sunday the call for his dismissal was an easy way for Iraqi officials to avoid embarrassment as they ignore his claims of being targeted for assassination.

Some Sunni members of parliament criticized the demand for the ambassador's replacement and said he should have some more time to do his work.

"We waited a long time to have a Saudi embassy opened in Iraq," said Ra'ad al-Dahlaki, a Sunni member of parliament. "We hope this decision wasn't made under political pressure from other groups or countries," he added, referring to Iran.

The ambassador told Saudi state television that his country would "not abandon Iraq and the Iraqis," indicating the next ambassador will continue existing policy.

Write to Ben Kesling at benjamin.kesling@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

August 28, 2016 21:55 ET (01:55 GMT)

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