ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Both Iraqi President Barham Salih and Speaker of the Iraqi Parliament Mohammed al-Halbousi called on Iran to respect the sovereignty of Iraq as the country sits on the brink of another conflict due to rising tension between the US and Iran. Escalating measures of conflict between the two major powers have been playing out on Iraqi soil.
Tensions between Washington and Tehran have steadily risen since the Trump administration withdrew the US from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Actions (JCPOA), otherwise known as the 2015 nuclear deal, in May 2018. Following a 180 -day wind-down period, the US imposed sanctions that primarily targeted Iran's oil industry.
The US has been trying to decrease Iranian influence in Iraq through the “maximum pressure” campaign of economic sanctions that US President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo have imposed on Iran since mid-2018.
Iraq has been directly affected by the increased tensions, as the country hosts more than 5,000 US troops who are targets for Iran and Iraqi PMF brigades functioning as Iranian proxies. There are more than 65 militias in Iraq with close ties to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), the elite military force which was led by Qasem Soleimani. Some of these militias frequently target Iraqi bases known to host US troops.
Escalating conflict
Since October 28, Iran-backed militias have targeted Iraqi bases hosting US troops with rockets more than a dozen times. Last week, a US civilian contractor was killed when a Coalition base in Kirkuk was targeted by a rocket attack.
As a response to the death of the contractor, the US conducted airstrikes against PMF positions in Iraq and Syria, and then dramatically escalated the conflict on Friday by killing Iran’s most powerful general and a prominent Iraqi PMF official in a drone strike outside the Baghdad international airport.
After the killing of General Qasem Solaimani and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, deputy head of Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF, also known as Hashd al-Shaabi in Arabic), Iran vowed to retaliate by targeting US bases in the region.
The response came early on Wednesday morning, when Iran fired 22 missiles into Iraqi bases hosting US-led coalition personnel. The Kurdish and Iraqi governments reported no casualties, but news outlets affiliated with the Iranian government claimed 80 Americans killed and 200 wounded.
In a Wednesday press conference, US President Donald Trump stated that the attacks on Ain Assad Air base in Anbar province and Harir Air Base in Dohuk province did not cause any casualties.
Iraqi Sovereignty
Iraqi President Barham Salih released a statement on Monday following the Iranian missile attacks. Salih “condemned” the Iranian attacks on Iraqi bases that hosts US-led coalition personnel, and called on Iran to respect the “sovereignty of Iraq.”
“The US-led coalition troops are in Iraq by an official request from the Iraqi government,” the statement reads. “We also refuse Iraq to be a battlefield, as well as an area to attack any other neighboring country.”
Speaker al-Halbousi echoed Salih in a statement released on Wednesday in which he condemned Iran’s violation of Iraqi sovereignty.
“While we condemn the Iranian violation of Iraqi sovereignty at dawn today, Wednesday, January 8, we confirm our absolute refusal to the conflicting parties to use the Iraqi arena to settle scores,” the statement read.
Al-Halbousi also called on the Iraqi government to take “necessary political, legal, and security measures,” to shift Iraq away from ongoing conflict in the region.
Iraq’s caretaker cabinet released a statement on Wednesday in which they called on everyone to respect the sovereignty of Iraq without specifically mentioning any country.
“We call on all side to respect the sovereignty of Iraq,” the statement reads. “We will also take the measures in order to avoid another war in Iraq, and provide safety and security for all the Iraqis.”
The Iraqi parliament voted Sunday on a non-binding resolution asking the government to expel foreign troops from Iraq in an emergency legislative session. Quorum was reached by the full attendance of powerful Shiite blocs, as the session was boycotted by the majority of Kurdish and Sunni MPs. The Iraqi parliament has 329 members, and the final vote for the measure was 172-0 in favor of expelling foreign troops.
Ongoing domestic political crisis
The recent events between Iran and the United States have turned media attention away from Iraq’s ongoing nationwide protests.
Young Iraqis first took to the streets on October 1 demanding jobs, services, and an end to corruption, with emboldened protesters eventually demanding an overthrow of the entire post-2003 political order.
The last update about the protests’ casualties and death toll reported on late December, as the number of killed people reported to be more than 511 protesters, members of the security forces, and around 17,000 more wounded since October 1.
The protests are still ongoing in central and southern Iraq, with many people demanding structural reform of Iraq’s political system, rejecting the influence of external powers including Iran and the US and calling for the appointment of a new Prime Minister who has the approval of the protesters and the Iraqi people.
The situation in Iraq seemed to move towards de-escalation on Wednesday. Iranian leadership signaled that it would no longer attack US bases in Iraq and that revenge had been taken for the death of Qasem Soleimani, and US President Donald Trump announced that the US is ready to negotiate with Tehran to stop the tension in the region and work towards global peace.
However, Trump also announced that Washington would impose “punishing” new economic sanctions on Iran and called on other world powers to work on a new deal to replace the JCPOA, stating that Iran would never be allowed to secure a nuclear weapon and that sanctions would continue until Iran changed its behavior.
