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A10 WORLD NEWS
Saturday 21 September 2019
Iraq's stability on the line as US, Iran tensions soar

By QASSIM ABDUL-ZAHRA commander who has been
ZEINA KARAM designated a terrorist by
Associated Press Washington. Both men are
BAGHDAD (AP) — As the firmly in Iran's camp. Solei-
United States and Israel mani met with both men
escalate their push to con- this week, a senior politician
tain Iranian influence in the told The Associated Press.
Middle East, countries in Earlier this month, a docu-
Tehran's orbit are feeling ment attributed to al-Mu-
the heat. handis was circulated in
Pro-Iranian militias across which he ordered the for-
Lebanon, Syria and Iraq mation of a PMF air force
are being targeted, both directorate and the ap-
with economic sanctions pointment of Salah Mahdi
and precision airstrikes hit- Hantous, who's been on
ting their bases and infra- a U.S. sanctions list since
structure. This is putting 2012, as its chief. In a state-
the governments that host ment published on its web-
them in the crosshairs of an site, the PMF later denied
escalating confrontation the report.
and raising the prospect of The document nonethe-
open conflict. less angered Shiite politi-
Nowhere is that being cians including the power-
felt more than in Iraq. It is ful cleric Moqtada al-Sadr,
wedged between Saudi who tweeted that a PMF air
Arabia to the south and force would spell the end
Iran to the east and hosts of the Iraqi government
thousands of U.S. troops on and turn Iraq into a "rogue
its soil. At the same time, In this Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2019 photo, a billboard depicting Shiite spiritual leaders and volun- state." Days later, he flew
powerful Shiite paramilitary teer fighters from the Iran-backed Popular Mobilization Forces who were killed in Iraq fighting to Iran and held a meeting
forces linked to Iran pose Islamic State militants, is displayed in Basra, Iraq. with Iran's supreme leader
a growing challenge to Associated Press Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
the authority of the central Iraq's top Shiite cleric,
government. involvement in the attacks, This week, there was a A directive issued by Iraq's Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sis-
As the pressure mounts, and U.S. officials have said sense of foreboding follow- prime minister in July inte- tani, whose 2014 religious
divisions within Iraq's pro- Israel was behind at least ing an attack by drones grating and placing Irani- decree calling for volun-
Iranian factions have burst one strike inside Iraq. and cruise missiles on key an-backed militias under teer fighters against the Is-
into the open, threatening The attacks have fueled Saudi Arabian oil installa- the command of the state's lamic State gave rise to the
to collapse a fragile gov- calls for a U.S. troop with- tions. Yemen's Houthi rebels security apparatus forces PMF, views these militias'
ernment coalition and end drawal by hard-line anti- claimed it was in response by July 31 has so far not growing political and eco-
a rare reprieve from the American groups in the to the yearslong Saudi-led been implemented. nomic influence with sus-
violence that has plagued country that have strong war there, but U.S. and Instead, PMF billboards picion and has pushed for
the country for years. ties to Iran. Saudi officials said it was reading "Death to America" Abdel-Mahdi's directive to
"Regional challenges fac- "The Americans are hos- launched from the north. have popped up between be implemented.
ing Iraq will make it even tage here ... If war breaks Iran and Iraq lie to the north lanes of traffic in central In surprisingly blunt com-
more difficult for Adel Ab- out, they will all be hos- of Saudi Arabia, while Ye- Baghdad, following allega- ments, al-Sistani's represen-
del-Mahdi to bring the (mi- tages of the resistance men is in the south. tions of Israeli involvement tative in Beirut, Hamid al-
litias) under control," said factions," said Abu Alaa al- Iraq's government was in the series of airstrikes. Khafaf, said progress in Iraq
Randa Slim, a senior fellow Walae, secretary general quick to deny that the at- One poster bears a pic- hinges on bringing all arms
at the Washington-based of the Sayyed al-Shuhada tack originated from Iraqi ture of what looks like the under state control.
Middle East Institute, refer- Brigades, one of the promi- territory, a claim that was ghost of the Statue of Lib- Political analyst Hisham al-
ring to Iraq's prime minister. nent militia factions with later said to have been erty wearing a black hood. Hashemi said the current
The divisions among Iran's strong ties to Iran. He spoke confirmed by Secretary "America is the reason for power struggle among
Shiite allies in Iraq have in a televised interview this of State Mike Pompeo in insecurity and instability in Iraq's Shiite militias is be-
been spurred by a spate of week. a phone call with Abdel- the region," it reads. tween PMF factions that
airstrikes blamed on Israel Such bellicose talk is deep- Mahdi. Meanwhile, divisions within support the state, and
that have hit weapons de- ly embarrassing for Iraq's The episode, however, the PMF's leadership have those whose loyalty rests
pots and bases belonging prime minister, who has demonstrated the Iraqi surfaced in public, which more with Iran.
to the Iran-backed militias, struggled to balance his government's tentative is likely to exacerbate ten- He questioned the govern-
known collectively as the country's alliance with both hold over the militias and sions. The head of the PMF, ment's ability to impose its
Popular Mobilization Forc- the U.S., which was invited raised questions about Faleh al-Fayyadh, has twice authority on PMF factions.
es, or PMF. back by the Baghdad gov- what they might do if the clashed with his deputy, Referring to the removal
There have been at least ernment to help fight the U.S. starts bombing Iran, Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, in earlier this year of blast
nine strikes since July both Islamic State group, and for instance. Qassem So- the past month, including walls that snaked through
inside Iraq and across the Iran, which is Iraq's most im- leimani, head of Iran's elite when he walked back a the city to protect from sui-
border in Syria, sparking portant trading partner. As Quds Force and the ar- statement by al-Muhandis cide car bombs, he said:
outrage among PMF lead- the crisis over Tehran's un- chitect of its regional en- in which he held the U.S. "The Iraqi government,
ers. They blame Israel and raveling nuclear deal with trenchment, met this week responsible for the spate of which removed the con-
by extension its U.S. ally, world powers has escalat- with Iraqi Shiite politicians attacks on PMF bases. crete blocks from around
which maintains more than ed over the past months, and PMF leaders in Bagh- The PMF is headed by al- Baghdad, is unable to re-
5,000 troops in Iraq. that position is becoming dad, apparently to discuss Fayyadh but practically run move the signs of 'death to
Israel has not confirmed its increasingly untenable. scenarios. by al-Muhandis, a military Israel and America.'"q