Resistance Warns After Al-Saadi's Kidnapping: Coordinated Response Is on the Way
TEHRAN (Defapress) - In an unprecedented move, Turkish security forces, with the cooperation of American intelligence, arrested "Mohammad Baqer Al-Saadi, the senior commander of the Iraqi Kata'ib Hezbollah, on Turkish soil and transferred him to the United States. By publishing images of Al-Saadi alongside martyred general Qassem Soleimani and making accusations of planning 20 attacks in Europe and the United States, Washington intends to send a clear message to Tehran and the Resistance forces in the region: "Iraq is no longer safe, and whoever fights America, wherever he is, will be arrested."
This action, which was taken on the eve of the formation of the new Iraqi government headed by Ali al-Zaidi, indicates Washington's willingness to conduct targeted intelligence-security operations. The arrest of Al-Saadi in Turkey has a clear meaning: Washington is closing the security cordon around Iran and its allies and is using every means, even cooperation with Ankara, to weaken the resistance front.
By carrying out this operation, the United States is trying to add a new regional actor to the group of countries hostile to the resistance axis, which will have significant consequences for the future of Iraq and the entire region. The Americans' goal in this action is to send a message to the new Iraqi government that supporting Resistance groups is costly and that no one with political cover in the Iraqi parliament will be able to continue fighting the United States. This is the same scenario that former Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi warned Ali al-Zaidi about and emphasized that Washington would intensify its pressure to disarm Iraqi resistance groups.
This development indicates a change in the enemy’s tactics. After failing to achieve a military victory over Iran and its allies, it is now using financial, intelligence, and security cooperation tools, such as what happened in Turkey, to “disintegrate the resistance command network from within.” Silence and inaction in response to this operation will embolden the United States to continue implementing this plan in Iraq. In such circumstances, the twenty-year achievements of the Resistance fighters in creating a powerful arm in Iraq will be at risk of complete destruction.
“Resistance Axis field decision-makers” must acknowledge that “front unity” is not limited to coordination on the battlefield, but also includes coordination against the enemy’s combined operations in the economic, military, security, and intelligence dimensions. Turkey, as a country that ignores Iraqi sovereignty and hands over resistance commanders to the United States on its soil, must not be left without an appropriate response. The Iraqi government is also obligated to defend with all determination the rights of its citizens, against whom no judicial ruling has been issued by this country.
Responding to this challenge requires a collective initiative, from declaring official support for al-Saadi as an “illegally kidnapped prisoner of war” to redefining relations with countries like Turkey that are providing their territory for hostile anti-Iranian actions. Otherwise, al-Saadi will not be the first or last victim of this scenario, and this ominous situation will be repeated in the future in other parts of the resistance front.
