Baghdad Friday Prayer Leader:‎

US does not seek to leave region, has to be forcibly expelled by resistance

Hujjat al-Islam al-Musawi has said that American forces do not intend to leave the Middle East ‎region and have to be consequentially expelled forcibly by means of resistance.‎

News ID: 450104

Date: 09 May 2020 - 14:42

RNA – Hujjat al-Islam Sayyid Yasin al-Musawi said that American forces do not intend to ‎leave the Middle East region and have to be consequentially expelled forcibly by means of ‎resistance.‎

‎“The Americans have to be ousted because they do not intend to leave by themselves. Only ‎resistance can expel them,” he said.‎

‎“One who seeks the continuation of US presence in the region, and for no resistance to take ‎place against it, is actually seeking to delay the end of injustice over the world,” he said.‎

Citing certain Muslim prayers during the holy month of Ramadhan, Hujjat al-Islam al-Musawi ‎added that it was necessary to pray for the expulsion of US forces.‎

The Iraqi parliament voted in January to expel foreign forces led by Washington from the ‎country.‎

The decision came in response to the US assassination of Iraqi Popular Mobilization Units ‎deputy commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, alongside Iran’s top anti-terror Lieutenant ‎General Qasem Soleymani, in the capital city Baghdad earlier in January.‎

Iraqi resistance groups have vowed to take up arms against US forces if Washington fails to ‎comply with the parliamentary order.‎

Countering US meddling in the country is regarded as one of the main challenges to the new ‎government of Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi.‎

Prime Minister al-Kadhimi’s cabinet was approved by parliament on Wednesday, ending six ‎months of political uncertainty in the Arab country.‎

On Thursday, Prime Minister al-Kadhimi visited Ammar al-Hakim, head of the National ‎Wisdom Movement, to discuss challenges facing the country, including the COVID-19 ‎outbreak and Iraq’s faltering oil-dependent economy amid a steep fall in international oil ‎sales.‎

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman also invited the premier to visit the oil-rich ‎kingdom, according to a statement issued by the Office of the Iraqi Presidency on Thursday.‎

Riyadh, along with Washington, has long sought to interfere in the country by coupling ‎economic incentives with aid for terrorist groups such as the Deash Takfiri outfit.‎

Daesh overran large swathes of the country after unleashing a deadly campaign in 2014.‎

The formation of voluntary forces later known as the PMU, however, allowed Iraq to ‎gradually bring the Daesh advance to a standstill, ultimately leading to the group losing all ‎control over Iraqi territory in 2017.‎

Daesh sleeper cells have, nonetheless, continued sporadic terrorist attacks across the ‎country.‎

The group has mounted a string of increasing attacks over the past week, specifically ‎targeting the PMU as the Iraqi government’s security response is hampered amid the COVID-‎‎19 outbreak and ongoing political uncertainty.‎

The Deash attacks on the PMU come as Washington has also launched several raids on ‎affiliated Iraqi resistance groups in the past months.‎

On Thursday, the CNN reported that the US has suspended “significant aspects” of its so-‎called anti-terrorism operations in the region due to the coronavirus.‎

Washington deployed troops to Iraq as part of a so-called international coalition to fight ‎Daesh in 2014.‎

Many have, however, questioned the true motives behind such deployments, arguing that ‎the US-led forces have not targeted Daesh effectively and have in certain cases provided the ‎terrorists with assistance.‎

US failure to assist the Iraqi government in anti-terrorism operations comes as US President ‎Donald Trump said that American presence in the country served to “watch Iran” in a speech ‎last year.‎

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