Normalization with Israel in exchange for withdrawal

The possibilities of a diplomatic escalation by the United States against Iraq are increasing, in light of the threatening messages that Washington sent a few days ago to Baghdad, where the President of the Republic, Barham Salih, transmitted the threat of President Donald to the political forces Trump to “close the US embassy in Baghdad and impose tough sanctions on the state.” Al-Iraqiya ‘(see “Al-Akhbar”, no. 4156). According to government sources who spoke to Al-Akhbar, a threat is attributed to two reasons (direct and indirect). Political.

In immediate cause, the US threat is related to the almost daily attacks on the US embassy and other diplomatic facilities and logistical support convoys of the Washington-led “international coalition.” As for the indirect reason, which sources describe as “real,” is the United States’ effort to link its departure from the country to an important historic deal or exchange. In this context, the impression prevails among Baghdad stakeholders that Washington wants, in order to complete the withdrawal, to obtain a commitment from Iraq, even without announcing it now, to follow the requirements of the “deal of the century” and the normalization projects. Arab with the Israeli enemy. In this regard, it seemed remarkable, in recent days, that the succession of positions of rejection, any identification with the Emirati and Bahraini steps, or any concessions at the level of the Palestinian cause, which still has its advanced position in Iraqi consciousness (apart from of the “Kurdistan region” that is advertised with its “distinguished” relations Tel Aviv). In these situations, there is an indication of the country’s immunity to US offers, which government sources do not rule out their proliferation in the coming weeks.

Positions rejecting any identification with Emirati and Bahraini footsteps continued

However, the Trump administration, which has always emphasized that “withdrawing from Iraq will not be free”, would not have made offers of this type if it had not found a way out for this stadium, mainly because it knew how to create space to maneuver and win more. weather. Invest in the weakness of the Iraqi position and the absence of a ruling vision in this regard. After lifting the slogan of recovering the costs of the occupation and moving to seek investment in energy fields in “Mesopotamia”, official messages were sent to Iraqis about their desire to see them on the knees of typists, in parallel with their declaration of the sword of sanctions, specifically in the Central Bank of Iraq.
In addition to the above, the US administration emphasizes that any withdrawal cannot be the object of fire, but in accordance with “diplomatic mechanisms”, and the most important thing is that it does not appear as a victory for Tehran and its allies, and therefore wants take a price on the dimension of moving Iraq to a new strategic position. Tehran is aware of these US calculations, but at the same time it does not want to provide free services to Trump before the elections, and so it is trying – it seems – to maneuver on the ground, without pushing things to the limit of confrontation. As for Baghdad, it continues to adhere to the “strategic dialogue” and rejects “any interference in it”, although it recognizes that its objective is to regulate the presence of the occupation forces only, and what is intended here is to reduce their number and delimit the limits of its missions, after having worked to “control” its dissemination The Iraqi map after the assassination of the two martyrs Qassem Soleimani and Abu Mahdi Al-Muhandis. Likewise, Baghdad seeks to “tame the American madness”, especially since “Iraq is not capable of facing new crises and sanctions that will cause great damage not only to Baghdad, but also to Tehran, Damascus and Beirut”, as some political circles say.

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