ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Iraqi Shiite cleric Ammar al-Hakim called for the government to take on a mediation role between its two friends, Iran and the United States, in order to ease rising tensions, arguing that the consequences of a confrontation between Tehran and Washington will be dire for his country.
"We are very aware of the dangers that surround Iraq as a result of the US-Iran conflict,” Hakim, the head of the Reform Coalition, said on Friday during a ceremony in Najaf commemorating the death of his father Mohammed Baqir al-Hakim who was assassinated in a bomb attack in 2003 – the year he returned to Iraq after living in Iran for 20 years.
While pointing out that Iraq geographically sits in the heart of the potential conflict and would be caught in the shockwave, Hakim said the government should not sit idly by. “Iraq will not sit with arms folded when it comes to its interests and security,” he said.
Prime Minister Adil Abdul-Mahdi was elected to the post with the support of Hakim’s coalition of Shiite and Sunni parties. His government has set itself on a middle road path, developing friendly ties with all its neighbours, including regional rivals Iran and Saudi Arabia, saying Iraq will be a land where adversaries can meet instead of a place where conflicts are played out.
Despite Baghdad’s attempt at neutrality, it is being pulled into the fray. Iraqi former Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki called on Friday for Iran and the US to use “the language of reason and dialogue” in order to avoid military escalation in the region.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo altered his travel plans in order to pay a hurried visit to Baghdad this week where he reminded Abdul-Mahdi that Iraq is obliged to protect US diplomatic and military personnel in the country. America’s concerns were sparked by what it says was an “escalation” in Iranian activity. The Pentagon has deployed warships to the Middle East as a precaution.
These alleged threats could be emanating from Iranian-backed elements within Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF). There are some 5,000 US troops stationed in Iraq.
“Americans are in trouble now, especially considering that US troops’ bases are known in Iraq and the region and can be targeted easily,” Moeen al-Kadhimi, a senior commander in the PMF, said on Thursday.
Others with connections to the militias, known in Iraq as the Hashd al-Shaabi, denied the possibility of a confrontation between them and US soldiers. “Hashd al-Shaabi is a security force under the authority of the prime minister, and it is politically and on the ground affiliated with the Iraqi government… We work in line with the policy of the state,” Nassim Abdullah, a member of the Badr Organization’s Fatih bloc, said on Friday. Fatih is the second-largest bloc in the Iraqi parliament and led by Hadi al-Amiri.
US President Donald Trump opened the door to negotiations on Thursday when he invited Iran’s leaders to “call me.”
CNN reported that US officials gave a phone number Trump could be reached on to the Swiss for them to share it with the Iranians. The United States does not have a diplomatic mission in Iran. Instead, Switzerland serves as an intermediary between them and provides some consular services for US citizens in the country.
Iran is not likely to take Trump up on the offer, according to one military official. “Negotiations with Americans will not take place, and Americans will not dare to take military action against us,” Brig. Gen. Yadollah Javani, Lieutenant Commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) for Political Affairs, told Tasnim News on May 10.
Iran’s oil sector has been the main target in sanctions re-imposed by Washington after Trump pulled out of the nuclear accord on May 8, 2018, labelling Iran the world’s largest state sponsor of terror and demanding Tehran rein in its regional activities.
"The policy of zeroing Iranian oil export by the United States of America means transition from the policy of pressure to the policy of strangulation against Iranian state and its people,” Hakim added, warning that “This will have catastrophic, serious impact on the region in general and Iraq in particular."
He also said that now there is a "golden chance" for Iraq to invest and boost economy as it enjoys good relations with international community, warning that terrorism may return to Iraq but "the security of Iraq is a red line."
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