Arshad Pasha al-Umari (Arabic: أرشد العمري;‎ 8 April 1888 – 5 August 1978) was an Iraqi statesman, engineer, diplomate, and cabinet official who held several political roles during the monarchy era of Iraq.

Born in Mosul to the ancient and well-known al-Umari family clan, he served as Prime Minister of Iraq twice in 1946 and 1954 respectively.

After finishing high school at Mosul he left for Istanbul, the capital of the Ottoman Empire, to complete his studies.

[citation needed] He graduated as an architect in 1908, when he was 21 years old, and was appointed to the Architectural Division of the Municipality of Istanbul.

During his Ministership, the opening of the famous oil pipeline from the oilfields at Kirkuk to the Mediterranean over 1,000 kilometres (620 mi) was celebrated.

The city planning and the general layout of the present modern Baghdad were believed to be one of Iraq's greatest achievements of that period.

During his Ministership of Foreign Affairs, diplomatic relations were established with the USSR and letters were exchanged between him and Vyacheslav Molotov on 11 September 1944.

[citation needed] Al-Umari headed the Iraqi delegation to sign the United Nations charter at San Francisco, California.

Al-Umari, the head of the Iraqi delegation, in protest against the apparent intention of the great powers to partition the British Mandate of Palestine into a Jewish State and an Arab State, refused to sign the charter and left the conference returning to Iraq on June 13, 1945.

On July 7, 1946, the Iraqi Minister of Economy, Baba Ali Sheikh Mahmud, went to the Ministry of al-Umari in Kirkuk, pressuring him to put an end to the protests, one way or another.

In response, further strikes by printing and railway workers took place which led al-Umari to declare martial law.

[8] Parties opposed to al-Umari's role as Prime Minister denounced him due to his history of repression of opinions and his lack of belief in democracy.

He returned to Iraq in 1968 and spent the rest of his life at the Baghdad residence of his elder son, Issam al-Umari.