Washington threatens to close its embassy: stop targeting our interests

Baghdad | In light of the almost daily attacks on the logistical support convoys of the “International Coalition” in several southern provinces, a regular meeting of the three presidencies and leaders of parties and forces was held earlier this week, in which The leaders of the “Rule of Law Coalition” Nuri al-Maliki and the Al-Fatah Alliance did not participate. (The forces that support the Popular Mobilization Forces) Hadi al-Amiri. At the meeting, Iraqi President Barham Salih quoted US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo as warning of continued attacks on the US embassy and other diplomatic facilities and logistical support convoys, and hinting that President Donald Trump “is seriously considering the decision to close the embassy in Baghdad and is ready to implement it.” And that a similar decision would trigger “liquidation operations against anyone involved in attacking our forces.” According to political sources who participated in the meeting, Saleh reported that Pompeo also mentioned that he mentioned both the “Hezbollah Brigades” and “Asa’ib Ahl al-Haq” (led by Qais Khazali). The sources added, in an interview with Al-Akhbar, that the US secretary described the consequences of the embassy closure as “very negative for Iraq and its future”, and concluded by saying that “this is a final warning to the government to take serious action to deter these terrorist actors.

The hypothesis of a political confrontation between Al-Sadr and various factions in the coming weeks increases

Pompeo’s words had a great impact on Saleh and a segment of parties and forces, as well as Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kazemi, who clings to the US-Iranian cover given to his government, and who rejects any interference in his steps, specifically those related to neutralizing the country from the confrontation between Washington and Tehran. As for Iran’s allies, they were divided between those who participated in the meeting to shame Al-Kazemi by asking him about “implementing the binding parliamentary decision for the government to schedule the withdrawal of the US occupation forces”, and those who they refused to participate, as “Al-Fateh” objected to “Al-Kazemi’s steps and decisions,” in a position shared by the former prime minister. Al-Maliki, who presented a petition to those interested in Tehran, shortly after his last visit to the Iranian capital, rejected any interference in Iraqi affairs. However, the forces affiliated with Iran, among the leaders of the resistance factions, rejected, for their part, any attack on the diplomatic missions and their headquarters, in a position that pushes the scene towards greater complexity, such as the case of what some circles in Tehran report of categorical rejection of what is happening in the field. Considering that Iran now tends – according to talk in those circles – to the diplomatic option, anticipating the results of the Iraqi-US strategic dialogue, before taking a position based on its results.
So many people in Baghdad do not have a serious interest in the person of the perpetrator, as much as they fear the repercussions of their actions, and that is the position of the majority of the politicians of the “Shiite House”, as the leader of the ” Sadrist movement “, Muqtada al-Sadr, who renewed, in a statement yesterday, his adherence to the strategic dialogue. This may increase the possibility of a political showdown between him and various factions in the coming days.

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