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Trump is escalating the US-Israeli war on Iran - here's why

Ali Abunimah
The Electronic Intifada
Fri, 03 Jan 2020 00:00 UTC
Crowd Pic Soleimani
© Morteza Nikoubaz/SIPAAn Iranian man carries a portrait of Qasem Soleimani
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has praised the US attacks on Iraq that killed senior Iranian general Qasem Soleimani and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the leader of Iraqi militias that were instrumental in the defeat of ISIS - so-called Islamic State.

President Donald Trump "is worthy of full appreciation for acting with determination, strongly and swiftly," Netanyahu said Friday.

Other senior Israeli politicians, including supposed opposition leaders, lauded the American attack. Among them, Amir Peretz, head of the ostensibly center-left Labor-Gesher party, said Soleimani "deserved to die" and thanked Trump. Peretz's hatred of Iran is perhaps understandable. He was defense minister during Israel's 2006 invasion of Lebanon, in which that country's resistance - supported by Iran - dealt Israel a humiliating defeat.

Yossi Melman, a veteran analyst of Israeli intelligence, called the US escalation "good news for Israel" because it draws the United States even further into Israel's attacks on Iran and its interests.

In an initial response, Iran's foreign minister Javad Zarif lauded Soleimani as the head of "the most effective force" in fighting ISIS and al-Qaida, and termed his killing an act of "international terrorism."
There is, no doubt, great satisfaction in Israel and among its most fanatical supporters at a move that ratchets the situation towards even more catastrophic violence.
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No Entry

Graham's ultimatum to Pelosi: Send articles to the Senate or be removed from impeachment process

Ronn Blitzer
Fox News
Mon, 06 Jan 2020 00:00 UTC
Graham
© aba imageSenator Lindsey Graham
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., insisted Sunday that if House Speaker Nancy Pelosi does not deliver articles of impeachment against President Trump to the Senate by the end of the week, the Senate should "take matters in our own hands."

Graham accused Pelosi of playing political games and trying to exert control over the Senate trial by keeping it from starting. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., recognized Friday on the Senate floor the chamber's rules prevented him from doing anything until Pelosi does her part, but Graham proposed a solution that could remove what McConnell has called an "impasse" in the process.

"What I would do, if she continues to refuse to send the articles as required by the Constitution, I would work with Senator McConnell to change the rules of the Senate so we could start the trial without her, if necessary," Graham proposed on Sunday Morning Futures. When asked how long he would wait before taking this step, Graham replied, "Days, not weeks."

Comment: See also:

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Post-It Note

Trump: Tweets are 'notification' to Congress, promises 'disproportionate' response to Iran in an attack


RT
Mon, 06 Jan 2020 21:32 UTC
TrumpFlag
© Real IranUS President Donald Trump
The US President Donald Trump has literally said that his Twitter posts should be seen as "notification to the United States Congress" - in another tweet no less - as he vowed to "strike back" should Iran target any American.

The president minced no words as he continued to threaten Tehran with a swift and potentially devastating response as the two nations have found themselves on the brink of a military conflict after the US killed a top Iranian commander on a direct order from the White House.

This time, however, he did not just issue another threat but also said that the US Congress should follow his Twitter to keep up with the latest developments of this potentially explosive situation.
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Bad Guys

Fragmentation in the 'Axis of Resistance' led to Soleimani's death

Elijah J Magnier
ejmagnier.com
Sun, 05 Jan 2020 20:04 UTC
Soleimani coffin funeral
© Twitter/HamidhaiderIranian general Qasem Soleimani's body was laid across a row of four seats on a passenger jet as he received a hero’s tour of Iran.
It was not the US decision to fire missiles against the IRGC commander Brigadier General Qassem Soleimani that killed the Iranian officer and his companions in Baghdad. Yes, of course, the order that was given to launch missiles from the two drones (which destroyed the two cars carrying Sardar Soleimani and his companion the Iraqi commander in al-Hashd al-Shaabi Jamal Jaafar Al-Tamimi aka Abu Mahdi al-Muhandes and burned their bodies in the vehicle) came from US command and control. However, the reason President Donald Trump made this decision derives from the weakness of the "axis of resistance", which has completely retreated from the level of performance that Iran believed it was capable of after decades of work to strengthen this "axis".

A close companion of Major General Qassim Soleimani, to whom he spoke hours before boarding the plane that took him from Damascus to Baghdad, told me:
"The nobleman died. Palestine above all has lost Hajj Qassem (Soleimani). He was the "King" of the Axis of the Resistance and its leader. He was assassinated and this is exactly what he was hoping to reach in this life (Martyrdom). However, this axis will live and will not die. No doubt, the Axis of the Resistance needs to review its policy and regenerate itself to correct its path. This was what Hajj Qassim was complaining about and planning to work on and strategizing about in his last hours. "
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Bad Guys

Venezuela parliament speaker election: Chaos inside & outside, Guaido accused of provocation after he was 'denied' entry


RT
Mon, 06 Jan 2020 18:26 UTC
guaido
Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido has been accused of pulling a PR stunt after a dramatic video showed him mounting a fence to enter the parliament, as it voted to replace him as the head of the legislature.

The opposition-led National Assembly changed guard on Sunday, with the majority of lawmakers electing Luis Parra, an MP from the centrist Justice First, a party in opposition to Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's United Socialist Party (PSUV).

One of the absentees was US-backed opposition figurehead Juan Guaido, the now ex-leader of the National Assembly, who proclaimed himself the country's 'interim president' a year ago.
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Megaphone

Moscow: Iran's rollback on 2015 deal commitments poses no risk of nuclear arms proliferation


RT
Mon, 06 Jan 2020 17:57 UTC
nuclear centrifuges
© AFP / Atomic Energy Organization of Iran
Blaming Tehran for its decision not to adhere to the 2015 nuclear deal won't work, as it's a direct consequence of the US's withdrawal from the pact and increased sanctions pressure on Iran, the Foreign Ministry said.

The rollback on uranium enrichment constraints detailed in the landmark international agreement "in itself poses no threat in terms of proliferation of nuclear weapons," the ministry said in a statement.

The fact that Iran is acting in "close cooperation and under supervision" of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) should eliminate all concerns, it added.
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Blackbox

Background to the killing of Soleimani - what really happened on Dec. 27 in Iraq?

Elijah J. Magnier
ejmagnier.
Thu, 02 Jan 2020 17:35 UTC

Comment: The following are excerpts from a piece Elijah Magnier published just a couple of days before the assassination. It reveals just how idiotic U.S. actions in Iraq have been for the past couple weeks, in particular.


al qaem
On 27th December 2019, several rockets were fired from unidentified attackers against the K1 Iraqi military base in Kirkuk, north of Iraq. In this base, as in many others, Iraqi and US military are present on the same ground and within the same walls, even if they have different command and control HQs. Two Iraqi policemen and one American contractor were killed and 2 Iraqi Army officers and four US contractors were wounded.

The following day, Defence Secretary Mark Esper called the Iraqi caretaker Prime Minister to inform him of "his decision to bomb Kataeb Hezbollah bases in Iraq". Mr Abdel Mahdi asked Esper to meet face-to-face, and told his interlocutor that this would be dangerous for Iraq: he rejected the US decision. Esper responded that he was "not calling to negotiate but to inform about a decision that has already been taken". Mr Abdel Mahdi asked Esper if the US has "proof against Kataeb Hezbollah to share so Iraq can arrest those responsible for the attack on K1". No response: Esper told Abdel Mahdi that the US was "well-informed" and that the attack would take place "in a few hours".

In less than half an hour, US jets bombed five Iraqi security forces' positions deployed along the Iraqi-Syrian borders, in the zone of Akashat, 538 kilometres from the K1 military base (that had been bombed by perpetrators still unknown!). The US announced the attack but omitted the fact that in these positions there were not only Kataeb Hezbollah but also Iraqi Army and Federal Police officers. Most victims of the US attack were Iraqi army and police officers. Only 9 officers of Kataeb Hezbollah - who joined the Iraqi Security Forces in 2017 - were killed. These five positions had the task of intercepting and hunting down ISIS and preventing the group's militants from crossing the borders from the Anbar desert. The closest city to these bombed positions is al-Qaem, 150 km away.

Comment: And U.S. miscalculation still plays into Soleimani's hands, despite his death. Groups previously at odds in Iraq are united. The PMU are reforming and uniting. The Iraqis have voted to kick out the Americans.

See also:

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Bad Guys

Soleimani had diplomatic immunity, making his assassination a far graver crime

Drago Bosnic and Joaquin Flores
Fort Russ News
Mon, 06 Jan 2020 17:04 UTC
trump Soleimani
General Qasem Soleimani and President Donald Trump
To Athens and Sparta, Xerxes sent no heralds to demand earth, and this he did for the following reason. When Darius had previously sent men with this same purpose, those who made the request were cast at the one city into the Pit and at the other into a well, and told to obtain their earth and water for the king from there.
— Herodotos 7.133.1

General Soleimani was acting under diplomatic authority and it bodes poorly for the U.S' ability to engage in diplomacy in the region for years to come. With a single act, the U.S violated not only standing and unspoken rules in place for countless centuries, but specific provisions in, for example, Article 31 of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.

This is not to say that such timeless rules have not been broken, but that in killing a diplomat one has declared war on the diplomat's homeland.

The plot to assassinate Qassem Soleimani (now Shaheed Soleimani) - a man long described by Khamenei himself as a 'living martyr' - was born, we are informed, from US and Israeli intelligence.

The American intelligence-controlled rag, The New York Times publicly revealed the plot in subtle terms, on January 2nd, as we will discuss below.

Soleimani was involved in multi-lateral talks regarding pending legislation in Iraq involving Iraq's intention to end U.S military presence, and demilitarize its embassy. Indeed, despite Soleimani's assassination - and indeed perhaps propelled to certain success because of it - such legislation advanced to the next process of becoming law in Iraq earlier today.


Comment: So far other sources have only mentioned that Soleimani was in Iraq, invited by Mahdi, to engage in talks for de-escalating the situation with Saudi Arabia:
Iraq's Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi has claimed that the recently-assassinated Iranian general was due to deliver Tehran's reply to a previous Saudi message regarding de-escalation talks between Tehran and Riyadh.

Speaking to Iraqi lawmakers on Sunday, Abdul Mahdi said that he had planned to meet Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps's elite Quds Force head Qasem Soleimani at 8:30 am local time on Friday before the US military killed the general several hours earlier.

The Iraqi Prime Minister's remarks come amid Baghdad's efforts to mediate talks between Tehran and Riyadh in the face of increasing regional tensions.
FRN doesn't source the above claim.


Worse still, Soleimani's diplomatic mission was being carried out as a result of a request made by the Trump administration to the Iraqi government. These are among the reasons that the US knew Soleimani's precise location at the specific time - and why the US in one fell swoop, lost all remaining diplomatic credibility.


Comment: Again, no source, but if true, it just shows how treacherous the U.S. government can be.


Comment: The Saker provided a handy run-down of the latest developments, the first of which somewhat supports what FRN writes above:
  1. Iraqi Prime Minister Adil Abdl Mahdi has now officially revealed that the US had asked him to mediate between the US and Iran and that General Qassem Soleimani to come and talk to him and give him the answer to his mediation efforts. Thus, Soleimani was on an OFFICIAL DIPLOMATIC MISSION as part of a diplomatic initiative INITIATED BY THE USA.
  2. The Iraqi Parliament has now voted on a resolution requiring the government to press Washington and its allies to withdraw their troops from Iraq.
  3. Iraq's caretaker PM Adil Abdul Mahdi said the American side notified the Iraqi military about the planned airstrike minutes before it was carried out. He stressed that his government denied Washington permission to continue with the operation.
  4. The Iraqi Parliament has also demanded that the Iraqi government must "work to end the presence of any foreign troops on Iraqi soil and prohibit them from using its land, airspace or water for any reason"
  5. The Iraqi Foreign Ministry said that Baghdad had turned to the UN Security Council with complaints about US violations of its sovereignty.
  6. Iraqi cleric Moqtada al-Sadr said the parliamentary resolution to end foreign troop presence in the country did not go far enough, calling on local and foreign militia groups to unite. I also have confirmation that the Mehdi Army is being re-mobilized.
  7. The Pentagon brass is now laying the responsibility for this monumental disaster on Trump (see here). The are now slowly waking up to this immense clusterbleep and don't want to be held responsible for what is coming next.
  8. For the first time in the history of Iran, a Red Flag was hoisted over the Holy Dome Of Jamkaran Mosque, Iran. This indicates that the blood of martyrs has been spilled and that a major battle will now happen. The text in the flag says "Oh Hussein we ask for your help" (unofficial translation 1) or "Rise up and avenge al-Husayn" (unofficial translation 2)
  9. The US has announced the deployment of 3'000 soldiers from the 82nd Airborne to Kuwait.
  10. Finally, the Idiot-in-Chief tweeted the following message, probably to try to reassure his freaked out supporters: "The United States just spent Two Trillion Dollars on Military Equipment. We are the biggest and by far the BEST in the World! If Iran attacks an American Base, or any American, we will be sending some of that brand new beautiful equipment their way...and without hesitation!". Apparently, he still thinks that criminally overspending for 2nd rate military hardware is going to yield victory...
On point #6, Nasr al-Shimri, the deputy-Secretary General of the al-Nujaba movement, made the following statement:
  • Washington has failed to shake Iraq's relations with its strategic ally Iran
  • Iran is a strategic ally that stood with Iraq in the most difficult of times
  • the blood of General Soleimani and the leader al-Muhandis foiled all the American plans against Iraq
  • not one day have we felt any reassurance towards American behavior in Iraq
  • the American aggression against the PMU on the borders signaled the beginning of the war on the resistance
  • we will wage a war against the American military presence at every point in the region that is within our reach
  • the pain that we will cause the United States will be equal to the (value of the) blood of our martyrs
  • the high-level leaders of the Iraqi resistance are preparing to meet to form a united front against the American presence in the region
  • the leaders of the Iraqi resistance will gather today or tomorrow to announce a united front against the US (military) presence
  • we are ready to fight the United States and the martyrdom of some of us will not change any of the existing equations
Regarding point #7, here are the details:
Days before Soleimani was targeted, US senior military officials reportedly offered to Trump the option of killing him. The Washington Post broke the news on Saturday, citing sources, that top Pentagon officials were "stunned" when the US president picked the most extreme option as a response to recent Iranian-led violence in Iraq.

According to the media report, senior military officials did not think Trump would take it, citing a practice reportedly introduced after the 11 September 2001 attacks which enables the US Department of Defence to offer improbable options to presidents just to make other more peaceful scenarios appear more palatable.

Trump reportedly became infuriated with media images showing Iranian-backed attacks on the American embassy in Baghdad, The Washington Post said, citing sources. The aggressive protest - which came as a response to the US strike against Kataib Hezbollah's forces killing about two dozen of its fighters - triggered the extreme option.

Senior US officials said, cited by the media outlet, that Trump authorized the assassination of Soleimani despite dispute in the administration about the significance of received intelligence warning of alleged threats to American assets in the Middle East.

US officials were reportedly divided, as some sources claimed that Soleimani had allegedly completed a tour - checking his proxy forces in Syria, Lebanon and Iraq - and was planning an attack that could claim hundreds of lives, according to The Washington Post. Others reportedly doubted a direct strike against Soleimani as other intelligence indicated that the top Iranian general's recent traveling amounted to "business as usual".
Idiot Pompeo reportedly was instrumental in pushing for the assassination:
On 29 December, Pompeo, Esper and Milley reportedly traveled to the president's private club in Florida, where the two defense officials offered possible option responses to Iranian aggression, including the targeted killing of Soleimani, senior US officials said.
...
Trump's decision to approve the killing of Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' (IRGC) Al Quds commander Maj. Gen. Qasem Soleimani was the culmination of determined urging by Mike Pompeo and Vice President Mike Pence, the officials are cited as saying on condition of anonymity.

A significant factor cited was the "lockstep" coordination for the operation between Pompeo and Esper, both graduates in the same class at the US Military Academy, who deliberated ahead of the briefing with Trump.

Pence was claimed to have also endorsed the decision, while not attending the meeting in Florida.

"Taking out Soleimani would not have happened under [former secretary of defense Jim] Mattis. Mattis was opposed to all of this. It's not a hit on Mattis, it's just his predisposition. Milley and Esper are different. Now you've got a cohesive national security team and you've got a secretary of state and defense secretary who've known each other their whole adult lives," the official is quoted as saying.

Pompeo reportedly first spoke with Donald Trump about killing Soleimani months ago, when the US President declined to retaliate militarily against Iran after the downing of a US surveillance drone that Tehran claimed violated its airspace - a fact Washington had denied. Tensions between Iran and the United States nearly escalated into a dangerous direct confrontation as President Donald Trump approved airstrikes against Tehran following the incident, but abruptly backtracked on his decision.
U.S. forces claim Iran's missile forces are at a heightened state of alert.

Neocon shill (and ex-CIA director) Petraeus is naturally ecstatic about the killing.

See also:

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Bullseye

Epstein autopsy photos released, proving he still didn't kill himself


RT
Mon, 06 Jan 2020 15:41 UTC
Fox News electronic ticker in New York
© Reuters / Eduardo MunozThe Fox News electronic ticker in New York shows the news about Jeffrey Epstein after he was found dead in his cell
Graphic new photos of Jeffrey Epstein's autopsy have again raised doubt that the wealthy pedophile killed himself inside a New York prison. According to one coroner, Epstein's injuries are consistent with murder.

Photos shown on CBS' 60 Minutes on Sunday show the inside of Epstein's cell, following his death in August. In them, multiple bedsheets have been fashioned into two nooses. A note on the sex offender's bed gripes about the conditions at New York's Metropolitan Correctional Center (MCC).

Photos of Epstein's body show a thin, bloody line across the middle of his throat. According to former New York City Medical Examiner Dr. Michael Baden, who observed the autopsy, the wound is more consistent with murder than suicide.

"This noose doesn't match the ligature furrow mark. It's wider than this," Baden told 60 Minutes. "Most hangings, especially free hangings, the ligature slides up to beneath the jawbone, the mandible. Here it's in the middle of the neck."

Comment: See also: Epstein 'admitted to me' he was a Mossad SPY: Ex-business partner claims Prince Andrew is protecting Ghislaine Maxwell because of blackmail

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Bad Guys

Trump threatens Iraq with 'very big sanctions' unless it pays back $billions for airbase if US troops are forced to withdraw


RT
Mon, 06 Jan 2020 16:28 UTC
trump
© REUTERS/Tom Brenner/File Photo
Iraq should brace for sanctions that will make the ones placed on Iran look weak in comparison if it kicks out the US troops without first covering the costs for an airbase, US President Donald Trump said.

"We have a very extraordinarily expensive air base that's there. It cost billions of dollars to build, long before my time. We're not leaving unless they pay us back for it," Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One on Sunday.


Comment: If the U.S. can seize Russian property and kick diplomats out on a whim, the Iraqis can expropriate the airbase and kick the Americans out of the country. It's not your country, Trump.


The punitive measures that the US is ready to slap on its supposed ally in the fight against Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS) will be even harsher than the crippling sanctions already in effect against Tehran, the president said.

"If they do ask us to leave, if we don't do it in a very friendly basis, we will charge them sanctions like they've never seen before ever. It'll make Iranian sanctions look somewhat tame."

Trump's warning to Iraq comes after Iraqi MPs passed a non-binding resolution, championed by the country's caretaker prime minister, asking the Iraqi government to expel foreign troops by cancelling a request for military assistance from the US-led coalition.

The resolution, adopted earlier on Sunday, envisions that some foreign troops might stay in Iraq for training purposes, but the number of foreign instructors deemed necessary should be reported back by the Iraqi authorities.

Comment: As RT observes, kicking the Americans out is easier said than done. Pompeo continues on his streak of delusion by insisting the Iraqis actually want the Americans to stay. This man is just an idiot, plain and simple. He's living in a fantasy world of his own childish exceptionalism. Just read his response: "We are confident that the Iraqi people want the United States to continue to be there to fight the counterterror campaign," Pompeo told Fox News Sunday. The UK doesn't want to leave, either. Their "vital work" there is just too important.

The Trump Administration reportedly even tried blocking the Iraqi Parliament from voting on the issue:
The Trump administration attempted to thwart the efforts of the Iraqi parliament to expel foreign military forces from the country in the wake of the killing of a top Iranian military commander and an Iraqi militia leader by US forces inside Iraqi territories, Axios reported on Sunday, citing two unnamed US officials and an Iraqi official.

The three officials told Axios that the Trump administration tried to convince the Iraqi government to block its parliament from passing the resolution, which will force the US military out of Iraq. One US official reportedly said that the exit of US troops from the country would "be catastrophic for Iraq".

"It's our concern that Iraq would take a short-term decision that would have catastrophic long-term implications for the country and its security. But it's also what would happen to them financially if they allowed Iran to take advantage of their economy to such an extent that they would fall under the sanctions that are on Iran," the official reportedly said. "We don't want to see that. We're trying very hard to work to have that not happen."

Axios also cited an unnamed senior Iraqi official who claimed that many Kurdish and Sunni members of the Iraqi parliament, who are supporting the US presence in Iraq, did not attend the parliament vote on expelling all foreign military forces, including US-led international coalition, from Iraqi territories.

"This is a temporary victory for the parties which are pro-Iranian, but it's also a clear message from the Sunnis and from the Kurds [who didn't vote] and from some Iraqi Shia, for the Americans to tell them we want you to stay in Iraq," the Iraqi official said, according to the website.
One way or another, the Americans will get out of Iraq eventually. The Axis of Resistance is vowing to force them out. Here's Nasrallah's speech. And here's Soleimani's successor Qaani: "We promise to continue martyr Soleimani's path with the same force... and the only compensation for us would be to remove America from the region." And Sheikh Qais al-Khazali, leader of the Asaib Ahl al-Haqq movement, a key faction of Iraq's Popular Mobilisation Unit:
  • We will take revenge for Hajj Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis and his companions and we will not accept anything less than the expulsion of US forces from Iraq
  • the Iraqi parliament decision today is one of the most important decisions it has taken throughout its history
  • We tell the Americans that Trump is an idiot who will cause nothing but further death and casualties for American soldiers
  • The US forces must leave (Iraq) immediately, and if they begin to stall, we will consider them as occupation forces and act towards them based on this
  • The Israeli project will never rest until it engulfs Iraq in flames and civil infighting
The Iraqi government is reportedly already at work on implementing Parliament's decision:
The Iraqi government has begun working on steps to implement the parliament's decision on the expulsion of foreign forces from the country, the press service of Prime Minister Adil Abdul Mahdi said in a statement, as regional tensions are rising in the wake of the assassination of Iranian general by the United States in Baghdad.

"Iraqi specialists from various agencies are drafting a document on further legal and procedural actions to implement the parliament's decision to remove foreign troops [from Iraq]," the prime minister said during his conversation with French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves le Drian, as quoted in the statement on Sunday.
They've already limited the movement of American forces in the country:
Abdul-Karim Khalaf, a security spokesman for Iraq's prime minister ... said that the US-led international coalition will be allowed to consult, arm and train Iraqi military personnel and security forces, but the troops will be removed. Khalaf added that the Iraqi government had limited the movements of foreign forces on the ground and in the air.

The process kick-started a day after Iraqi lawmakers adopted a motion requiring the government to end the presence of foreign troops from the country. There has been no word from the government on whether it ratified the resolution.
...
Abdul-Karim Khalaf called that strike, which hadn't been agreed with Iraq in advance, a "stupidity [that] is impossible to keep silent about." The Iraqi foreign ministry on Sunday summoned the US ambassador to condemn the strike as a "blatant violation of Iraqi sovereignty."
Before the parliamentary vote, PM Mahdi apparently revealed some interesting pieces of information:
  • He said that the United States allowed Israel to inflict several illegal air strikes on the munitions depots of the Iraqi armed forces last year. Israel and the US have denied this information.
  • He informed the deputies that US aviation was illegally taken into the air, and flew over the American embassy on December 31 without the permission of the Iraqi government.
  • He stated that he was trying to reconcile the USA and Iran after the US air strike on a military base of pro-Iranian forces in the west of the country on December 30, when 25 people died. According to him, the States refused to even give an informal apology to the Iranians, and the negotiations fell apart.
  • He said that it was the leadership of the "Popular Mobilization Force" together with the killed on the eve of Abu Magdi Al-Mugandes at the cost of the threat of his resignation and the entire Cabinet of Ministers forced the protesters under the US embassy to go home and end his siege. I wrote about this earlier, and now it has officially sounded from the lips of the Iraqi prime minister.
  • He also said that Kassem Suleimani arrived in Baghdad and brought with him a letter from the Iranian leadership to representatives of Saudi Arabia, with whom he was negotiating a regional reconciliation.
That is, in other words, Suleymani carried out some important diplomatic mission between Tehran, Riyadh, Damascus and Baghdad when the States killed him. This makes the situation even more difficult. Now everything looks like the United States wanted to ruin the hell out of possible peace talks between regional players.
See also:

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