Popular Forces Warn of Response to Trump's Violation of Iraqi Sovereignty

TEHRAN (defapress)- A spokesman of Hezbollah al-Nujaba (one of the Iraqi popular forces) described US President Donald Trump's visit to the country as a violation of its sovereignty, stressing that the move will receive a crushing response.

News ID: 74596

Date: 27 December 2018 - 15:09

"The foolish US president, Donald Trump, should know that Iraq has earned its sovereignty by donating blood and the US bases have no place in this country which is a pivot of resistance," Hashem al-Moussavi in a statement on Thursday.

He underlined that Trump's violation of Iraq's sovereignty will not remain "unpunished", adding that the Iraqi government should now expel the US forces.

Al-Moussavi said that Trump wants to undermine Iraq's sovereignty by his visit to Ain al-Assad base, and added, "We will not allow Iraq to turn into a base for the US to threaten the neighboring states."

Iraqi political and popular forces' leaders have condemned Trump's unannounced trip to Iraq as a violation of their country's sovereignty.

In a surprise visit to US troops, Trump on Wednesday landed at an airbase west of the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, where he thanked the soldiers for their service.

Sabah al-Saadi, the leader of the Islah parliamentary bloc, called for an emergency session of the Iraqi parliament "to discuss this blatant violation of Iraq's sovereignty and to stop these aggressive actions by Trump who should know his limits: The US occupation of Iraq is over".

Islah is headed by Shiite leader Muqtada al-Sadr, who has long opposed the US presence in Iraq since Washington's invasion against the country in 2003.

Hundreds of thousands of Iraqis have died in the conflict, which many analysts call one of the major US foreign policy debacles in recent history and one of the most destructive invasions in modern history.

The Bina bloc, led by Hadi al-Amiri, also objected to Trump's trip to Iraq.

"Trump's visit is a flagrant and clear violation of diplomatic norms and shows his disdain and hostility in his dealings with the Iraqi government," said a statement from Bina.

Trump did not meet any Iraqi officials during his three-hour-long stay. A scheduled meeting with Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi was scrapped and the two leaders talked instead by telephone.

Mahdi's office said in a statement that US authorities had informed Iraq's leadership of the president's visit in advance. The statement said the Iraqi prime minister and the US president held a telephone conversation due to a "disagreement over how to conduct the meeting".

Meantime, the Iraqi legislators said that the two leaders had disagreed over where their planned meeting should take place: Trump had asked to meet at the Ain al-Asad military base, an offer Mahdi declined.

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