Trump: "If Iraq demands withdrawal, we will impose sanctions stronger than those on Iran"

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunwoo Lee] U.S. President Donald Trump sharply criticized the Iraqi parliament's passage of a resolution to withdraw U.S. troops, warning that if Iraq continues to demand the withdrawal of U.S. forces, sanctions stronger than those imposed on Iran will be applied to Iraq. Following his warning of severe retaliation against Iran, he also issued a sanctions warning to Iraq, an ally, and expressed opposition to the withdrawal of U.S. troops, raising concerns about the outbreak of a full-scale war not only with Iran but also with Iraq.

According to foreign media including CNBC, on the 5th (local time), President Trump held a press conference aboard Air Force One while returning to Washington D.C. from his year-end vacation at the Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, stating, "If Iraq demands the withdrawal of U.S. troops, we will impose sanctions at a level never seen before," and warned strongly, "The sanctions imposed on Iran will seem weak in comparison." He added, "We have an incredibly expensive airbase there. It was built at a cost of billions of dollars before I took office," and emphasized, "There will be no departure of U.S. troops until that is paid off."

This is interpreted as a backlash against the Iraqi parliament's earlier passage of the resolution to withdraw U.S. troops. Along with the withdrawal resolution, Iraq also filed a complaint with the United Nations Security Council, claiming that the U.S. airstrike that killed Qassem Soleimani, commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps' Quds Force, infringed upon Iraq's sovereignty. As a result, diplomatic relations between the U.S. and Iraq, currently allies, may be severed, and there is a possibility that Iran will engage in proxy warfare against the U.S. through pro-Iranian Shiite military organizations across the Middle East, including Iraq.

The Quds Force, an elite unit of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps led by Soleimani who was killed in the U.S. airstrike, is known for supporting and directing Shiite military organizations throughout the Middle East, including Iraq's Kata'ib Hezbollah, Lebanon's Hezbollah, Yemen's Houthi rebels, and Palestine's Hamas. Iraq's Kata'ib Hezbollah has declared it will attack U.S. military bases within Iraq, and subsequently, rocket attacks were carried out on U.S. military bases near the U.S. embassy and in the Green Zone area.