Pro-Iran Militias in Iraq "Preparing for Anti-US Resistance"
Iran Urgently Convenes Supreme National Security Council... Seeking Response Measures
[Asia Economy Reporter Cha Min-young] The aftermath of the killing of a key Iranian military figure by the United States is spreading within Iraq. Hashd al-Shaabi (pro-Iranian Shia militias) in Iraq has issued a statement to prepare for war against U.S. forces, while the anti-foreign religious leader Muqtada al-Sadr has also officially declared armed struggle against the United States.
Qais al-Khazali, leader of the armed group Asa'ib Ahl al-Haq under Hashd al-Shaabi, announced his intention to resist the U.S. in a handwritten statement on the 3rd (local time). This came immediately after news broke that Qasem Soleimani, commander of the elite Quds Force of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps, the top military figure in Iran, was killed in a U.S. airstrike in Baghdad, Iraq.
Qais al-Khazali stated, "All resistance fighters, prepare yourselves. Conquest is imminent and victory awaits us," and warned, "We will fight until U.S. forces withdraw from Iraq."
Muqtada al-Sadr, the hardline anti-foreign religious leader who leads the largest faction in the Iraqi parliament, Al-Sairoon, also ordered armed struggle against the U.S. via Twitter, saying, "Warriors, Mahdi Army (Peace Brigades, the militia led by al-Sadr), prepare yourselves."
Al-Sadr led a strong anti-American armed struggle from the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq, which toppled Saddam Hussein’s regime, until the U.S. withdrawal in 2011.
On the same day, alongside Commander Soleimani, Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, deputy commander of Hashd al-Shaabi and founder of the key organization Kata'ib Hezbollah, was also killed in the U.S. airstrike.
Meanwhile, as the U.S. Department of Defense officially announced that it carried out the airstrike on Qasem Soleimani, commander of the Quds Force of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps, under the directive of U.S. President Donald Trump, the possibility of an early resolution of the conflict between the U.S. and Iran is considered low. Accordingly, the geopolitical risks in the Middle East are expected to increase.
On the 2nd (local time), the U.S. Department of Defense stated, "Under the president’s directive, we killed Commander Soleimani, head of the Quds Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps." The Department emphasized that this action was a defensive measure to protect U.S. personnel overseas.
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
