Al-Kadhimi's visit aims to end the negotiations on the U.S. troops departure, former DPM says
The former Deputy Prime Minister (DPM), Bahaa al-Araji, said that PM al-Kadhimi will be visiting the U.S. capital city to conclude the negotiations on the withdrawal of the U.S. troops from Iraq and issue a decision on that.
"Any escalation will delay the issuance of this decision. Those who raise the slogan of removing the occupation must stand by the Prime Minister and support him to achieve this national demand," he said.
A spokesperson for Kata'ib Sayyid al-Shuhada, a prominent Shiite paramilitary faction in Iraq, on Saturday divulged mediation attempts to halt the military escalation of the "Resistance Factions" against the U.S. troops and interests in Iraq.
The spokesperson of the Iran-backed movement, Kadhem al-Fartousi, told Shafaq News agency, "the Iraqi Islamic Resistance categorically refused any mediation related to halting the military operations against the U.S. Forces."
"The military escalation against the U.S. Forces aims to totally remove the U.S. combat forces from the entire Iraqi territory. Otherwise, there will be no appeasement, and the escalation will not be stopped, whatever was the pressure on the factions."
In an interview with Sky News, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for the Middle East Dana Stroul said, "The biggest challenge for us in the region is Iran and its support for terrorism."
"There is no military solution to the threats we see in Iraq," said Stroul, "what we want is to see a stable and sovereign Iraqi government."
On January 5, 2020, Iraq's parliament backed a recommendation by the prime minister that all foreign troops should be ordered out after the U.S. killing of a top Iranian military commander and an Iraqi militia leader in Baghdad.
A special session passed a resolution saying that the Shi'ite-led government, which was close to Iran, should cancel its request for assistance from the U.S.-led coalition in the wake of the assassination of the Commander of the Iranian "Quds" force, Qassim Soleimani, and the Deputy Commander of al-Hashd al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilization Forces-PMF), Abu Mahdi Al-Muhandis.
Since January 2021, more than 50 U.S. targets affiliated with the U.S. have been attacked, including the U.S. embassy, the Baghdad and Erbil airports, and military bases housing International, U.S., and Iraqi forces.
