Tens of thousands of Iraqis gathered in Baghdad to mark the first anniversary of the death of a top Iranian military commander and a leader of the Iraqi militia in a US drone attack, chanting anti-American slogans and demanding that American troops be expelled from the Middle East. parents.
The crowds gathered on Sunday in the central square of Baghdad to commemorate the deaths of Qassem Soleimani, leader of the Quds Force of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, who headed Iran-backed militias known as Popular Mobilization Forces.
Protesters, carrying photos of the two military leaders killed in the drone attack at Baghdad airport last January 3 and shouting “America is the Great Satan”, marched at the rally organized largely by the militia group.
The Trump administration said Soleimani was the architect of the attacks on American troops in the Middle East, which resulted in hundreds of victims.
The unrest comes at a time of heightened tensions between Washington and Tehran when the United States, preparing for possible retaliation by Iran, sent B-52 bombers over the Persian Gulf and sent a nuclear submarine to the strategic waterway last month in a demonstration. military force.
Iran retaliated for the killings last year by launching a rocket attack on two Iraqi bases that housed American troops, causing some concussions.
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif warned American officials on Saturday not to allow Israel to arrest them for going to war with the Islamic Republic.
“New information from Iraq indicates that Israeli provocateurs are plotting attacks against Americans – putting a outgoing (President Donald) Trump in trouble with a false casus belli,” he said.
Israeli Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz called Zarif’s comments “absurd”.
“We heard this absurdity from Zarif, that Israel was going to launch terrorist attacks against the United States – that really is total absurdity,” said Steinitz on Sunday.
Wired Poles