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Thousands of Iraqis gathered on Sunday, January 3, 2020, on the first anniversary of the assassination of the commander of the Quds Force in the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, Major General Qassem Soleimani, and the deputy chief of the Iraqi People’s Mobilization Forces, Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, in an American airstrike near the Baghdad airport and condemned the United States.
Men, women and children gathered on Saturday night and Sunday dressed in black at the scene of the attack, where they lit candles to greet their “martyrs” denouncing the “Great Satan”, in reference to the United States.
The ceremony was held at the invitation of the popular crowd, and will be followed by a meeting Sunday at Tahrir Square in central Baghdad to denounce the “American occupation.” Hundreds of people from different provinces flocked to participate in the monument.
“We tell the United States and the enemies of Islam … that we will continue the resistance despite the bloodshed,” said Batoul al-Najjar, a supporter of the Popular Mobilization Forces, which the United States accuses of attacking. its embassy and soldiers in Iraq with missiles.
Soleimani, the engineer and eight other people were killed in the early morning of January 3, 2020, in an attack on two vehicles near the Baghdad airport.
Tahrir Square
Deputy Ahmed Al-Asadi, one of the most prominent leaders of the Popular Mobilization Forces, promised: “Abu Mahdi, the great engineer, will make millions and his image will shine in Tahrir (square).”
Preparations began on Saturday for a similar ceremony to commemorate this memory in Tahrir Square, which was the bastion of the October 2019 protests, during which chants of condemnation of the political system and its pro-Iranian parties were chanted.
A large photo of Soleimani and the engineer meeting in the Turkish restaurant building adjacent to the square.
The Popular Mobilization Forces called on all Iraqis to gather in Tahrir Square on Sunday to denounce the “American occupier” and demand the withdrawal of US forces from the country.
To coincide with this anniversary, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said in a tweet that “Israeli agents provocateurs are planning to launch attacks on Americans in Iraq” to put US President Donald “Trump in trouble because of a fabricated war.” .
Tehran accused the outgoing US president of seeking to create a “pretext” to launch a “war” before leaving the White House on January 20, following a term during which he launched a campaign of “maximum pressure” on Tehran.
Trump accused Tehran of being behind a missile attack on the US embassy in Baghdad on December 20.
Trump’s position
Since January 3, 2020, the US president has reiterated his strong position that “if an American is killed, I will hold Iran responsible,” referring to speculation that Americans will be exposed to further attacks in Iraq.
And the hardline positions of Tehran and Washington over the past year have made the world fear for a conflict between the two sides, of which Iraq will be the scene.
After Soleimani’s assassination, Iran launched several missiles at bases in Iraq that are home to American soldiers, including the Ain al-Assad base in western Iraq.
He also warned that those responsible for Soleimani’s murder “will not be safe,” leading observers to hope that the greatest danger could be during 2021.
Prominent PMF leaders constantly try to point out that Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kazimi, who came to power in the wake of the unprecedented protests in October, is working alongside protesters against the authority in the interest of the United States.
Iraqis are currently living in acute tension and are attentive to what may happen in the coming weeks about the possibility of a war between Tehran and Washington, one of the main reasons for the assassination of Soleimani.
Two US “B-52” fighters capable of launching nuclear weapons flew over the Gulf region on December 10, while the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz sailed in late November in Gulf waters.
The Revolutionary Guards commander, Major General Hossein Salami, promised on Saturday to respond to “any movement” against Iran, during his visit to a strategic island in the Gulf.
Salami inspected the military forces on the island of Abu Musa, on the eve of the first anniversary of Soleimani’s assassination. And he warned: “We will respond with an equal, decisive and powerful blow to any step that the enemy can take against us.”
And the missile strikes, in particular, during the year targeted American interests in Iraq, which Washington accused of carrying out armed factions loyal to Iran.
However, starting in October, the attacks eased after a truce declared by pro-Iranian factions.
