Iran's card to pressure Washington: Demanding the withdrawal of US troops from Iraq
The Iraqi political blocs have renewed their demands to
schedule the withdrawal of foreign forces from Iraq, particularly US forces,
after a recent hesitation on the redeployment of US forces in Iraq, which was
met with official denials of these reports, with the government describing them
as "rumors."
Mahmoud al-Rubaie, a spokesman for the Sadiqun Movement, one of the political blocs belonging to the Fatah Coalition, said that scheduling the withdrawal of foreign troops from Iraq needs to be put a vote in the coming period. This coincided with another request made by a deputy from the same coalition demanding that Prime Minister Adil Abdul Mahdi explain the movements made by foreign forces inside Iraq.
Iranian plan
Observers have considered such calls to be an Iranian plan aimed at putting pressure on Washington in the name of Iraqi entities, especially since those who inciting these calls are close to Iran. On Tuesday, Shiite cleric Jawad al-Khalisi called on Iraqis to come out this coming Friday to reject the foreign presence in Iraq.
"We call on the citizens to participate in a broad plan of action to save the country and the people," Khalisi said in a statement, pointing out that this will translate into the broad participation of Iraq’s united people on Friday and within a unified national program, which will include stopping work on Friday morning and heading to mosques to pray and listen to scholars and distinguished speakers emphasize the nation's positions regarding the country’s unity and independence, and to defend its dignity, rights and capabilities.
American-Iranian conflict
There is no doubt that Iraqi political decisions are subject to Iranian hegemony in everything, Iraqi political analyst Anmar al-Darubi said in a statement, pointing to the trend of the Iraqi parliament to propose a plan laying out the withdrawal of US advisers from Iraq, reflecting Iran’s dominance in Iraq and emphasizing the dramatic conflict between the United States and Iran in the country.
The voices of some Iraqi politicians have been raised in the recent period demanding the withdrawal of US troops from Iraq, including from parliament members, leaders of militias, and a number of heads of political blocs and influential parties in Iraq, Darubi said, pointing out, however, that these claims are only propaganda, because everyone knows that those demanding the exit of the Americans from Iraq are the same one who were appointed by the US to rule Iraq.
Darubi pointed out that in light of the Iranian conflict with the US, Tehran is exporting arms to the region, including to the militias in Iraq, Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthis in Yemen, adding that there are entities in Iraq that Iran protects.
Those demanding the departure of foreign forces deny the presence of Iranian military forces in Iraq and say there are just some Iranian advisers, Darubi explained. He pointed out, however, that there is an Iranian security intelligence presence in Iraq, specifically the Iranian Revolutionary Guards and especially in the southern provinces with large Shiite majorities. He added that everyone who goes to the province of Najaf able to clearly see and hear Iranians and the Persian language, as well as in the province of Basra, where the Iranian Revolutionary Guards are widespread
