Salam and Al Fateh mutually agreed to terminate the contract, citing player's personal reasons to do so.

[4] Shakir represented the former Iraqi Olympic side that won the silver medal at the 2006 Asian Games at Doha, and he was called into the national B team for the 2007 King's Cup in Thailand.

His debut with the senior team came in January 2008, when he played a defensive role in Iraq's 1–1 friendly draw with Jordan.

Shakir made two appearances in Iraq's qualifying campaign for the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa.

Salam Shaker was the starting center back for Iraq in the 2015 Asian cup as the team finished fourth.

On 29 March 2016, hours after captaining Iraq to a 1–0 win over Vietnam in the joint AFC and World cup qualification, Salam Shaker announced his retirement from international football, citing his reason to allow younger players the opportunity to represent the Iraqi national team.