Iranian general Qassem Soleimani visits Baghdad as Iraq PM resigns
Iranian General Qassem Soleimani, the commander of
the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps - Quds Force, is currently present in the
Iraqi capital of Baghdad, Al Arabiya sources confirmed.
His visit on Saturday comes as Iraq’s cabinet
approved Prime Minister Adil Abdul Mahdi’s resignation, according to a
statement from his office, but parliament has yet to withdraw its support for
the prime minister at a session on Sunday, making it official.
Soleimani was last in Baghdad earlier this month
when sources said he met with commanders of the Popular Mobilization Unit
militias and instructed them to support Abdul Mahdi during a secret meeting.
At the time, an Iranian security official confirmed
Soleimani was present at a meeting in Baghdad and that he was there to
“advise.”
The current unrest, which has killed more than 400
people, mostly demonstrators, amounts to the biggest crisis confronting Iraq
since ISIS seized vast swathes of Iraqi and Syrian territory in 2014.
