ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Iraq’s national intelligence service has hit back at an Iran-backed militia’s claim that its chief, a candidate to become the country’s next premier, was complicit in the assassination of Iran’s top general and a deputy Iraqi militia leader in Baghdad in January. Abu Ali al-Askari, spokesperson of the Iran-backed Kataib Hezbollah militia which falls under the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) umbrella, branded the potential nomination of intelligence chief Mustafa al-Kadhimi for the Iraqi premiership as a “declaration of war”. “He [Kadhimi] is one of those accused of helping the American enemy to assassinate top Iranian general Qasem Soleimani and deputy head of Hashd al-Shaabi [PMF], Abu Mahdi al-Mohandis, therefore his nomination is a declaration of war on the Iraqi people, and will burn the remaining stability in Iraq,” Askari tweeted on Monday. His Twitter account has since been suspended. The Iraqi National Intelligence Service defended itself against the accusations in a statement released Tuesday, branding Kataib Hezbollah “outlaws”. “All of our duties are being conducted for the sake of Iraqi interests, not the hysteria and accusations of the outlaws,” the service’s statement read. “The intelligence service…has refused to be drawn into political quarrels because it is a representative of the state, not groups, and heeds the interests of the Iraqi people, not the interests of tense parties,” the statement added in apparent veiled reference to the militia's Iran backing. Formed in 2014 upon Iraq’s supreme Shiite leader Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani's call to fight the Islamic State (ISIS) advance in Iraq, the PMF was integrated into the Iraqi defense forces, but its factions are in reality under varying degrees of command from Tehran. Kataib Hezbollah, known to be under the influence of the Iranian military officials, has conducted multiple attacks on US targets in Iraq. A rocket attack by the militia on the K-1 military base in Kirkuk killed a US contractor in December 2019, to which American forces responded by carrying out attacks against five facilities belonging to the group in Iraq and Syria - killing at least 25 of its militants. US-Iran hostility on Iraqi soil culminated in the targeted drone assassination of Qasem Soleimani, a commander who spearheaded Iran’s military missions in the Middle East, and the PMF’s deputy head Abu Mahdi al-Mohandis in Baghdad on January 3. Iraqi political parties have previously put intelligence chief Kadhimi forward as a possible candidate for the premiership, alongside Mohammed Tawfiq Allawi and Ali al-Shukri. Caretaker Prime Minister Adil Abdul-Mahdi resigned in November amid mass protests in Iraq’s southern and central provinces demanding the removal of the post-2003 political elite, an overhaul of the political system, and early elections. After his resignation, the country’s various political blocs were for months locked in talks to nominate a suitable candidate to replace him, eventually agreeing on the nomination of Allawi as successor in early February. However, Allawi submitted his resignation from the role on Sunday after failure to secure parliamentary approval to form a cabinet. Iraq’s political parties have since been forced to engage in a new round of talks to nominate a new prime ministerial candidate, who upon appointment by Iraqi President Barham Salih will be charged with forming the next governmental cabinet. Kadhimi is believed to be the presidential candidate of choice for prime minister.
