Iran Press/ Iran News: Three waves of protests have taken place in Iraq in recent months, with special groups playing a major part. The first wave of protests started on 1st October 2019 , and ended with the Arbaeen mourning ceremonies for Imam Hussein (peace be upon him) in October. The second wave started on 25th October after the Arbaeen mourning ceremonies. These protests were sometimes violent, leading to destruction of public and private property.
Eventually, on 1st December 2019, prime minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi resigned, unable to end the turmoil in the country. Abdul-Mahdi has stayed on though as caretaker prime minister until a successor is found.
This second wave of protests ended after the terror attack and assassination of prominent Iranian Lieutenant General, and commander of the IRGC's Quds Force, Qassem Soleimani in a US drone strike in Baghdad in the early hours of Friday morning, 3 January 2020. In the same attack, a number of other IRGC personnel, and one of Iraq's top military commanders, Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, a close friend and colleague of General Soleimani, and second-in-command of the Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF), better known as Hashd al-Shaabi, were also martyred.
Qassem Soleimani and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis
This second wave of protests actually ended with the unity and solidarity of the Iranian and Iraqi peoples being quite evident for all to see. Millions of Iraqis took part in the massive funeral processions held for the martyrs of the resistance, particularly the top Iranian General Qassem Soleimani. Also millions of Iranian participated in the funeral of top Iraqi General, and martyr of resistance, Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis. The massive show of support by the Iraqi people for their Iranian brethren proved beyond any doubt that special groups and foreign countries were in fact orchestrating the anti-Iraqi-government protests, where anti-Iran slogans were often chanted. Clearly the masses of Iraqi people are not involved in any way in these "protests" against their brethren.
A likely scenario now is that after the assassination of the top Iranian General, we will witness the full departure of US military forces from the country. The Iraqi parliament has already voted for a complete withdrawal of US forces from the country. The historic non-binding resolution has prompted a chaotic response from Trump administration officials. Like it or not, the Trump administration will soon discover that it cannot escape the consequences of its criminal behaviour.
Violent Protests in Iraq
A third wave of Iraqi protesters began last week. These protests are taking place of course, after the assassination of deputy leader of the PMF, Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, one of Iraq's top generals who led the crucial fight against ISIS Takfiri terrorists.
There are some tell-tale signs which tell us a lot about the street protests that are currently taking place in Iraq, and who might be behind them. These tell-tale signs are:
(1) It seems that some groups want to cause a rift between the Iraqi people and the Iraqi government. The third wave of Iraqi protests is characterized by closure of some roads and highways throughout the country, as well as the closure of a number of Iraqi airports. These calculated acts are meant to disenchant the Iraqi public and encourage anti-government sentiments.
(2) The turmoil and violence in Iraq, particularly the violence and insecurity in the two holy cities of Najaf and Karbala, show quite clearly that the Iraqi public is not involved in these protests, rather, the internal and foreign opponents of the Iraqi government are orchestrating these "protests" which more properly should be called riots or vandalism.
(3) It is interesting that every time a national decision is reached in Iraq which goes against US interests, violence flares in the country. For example, a few weeks ago, the Iraqi parliament voted for a complete withdrawal of all US military forces from the country. And just a few days later, a new wave of violent protests started in the country. Hence, it is very likely that the United States of America, and its proxies, are behind this third wave of protests in Iraq !!
Iraqi politician and religious leader Muqtada al-Sadr has called for a massive million-strong anti-American protest in Iraq. The move has been widely welcomed by resistance groups in Iraq, and also by the vast majority of the Iraqi public. The anti-American protests are due to take place next Friday.
It seems the days of US military presence in Iraq are numbered. Like it or not, the Trump administration will have to face the music in Iraq -- it cannot escape the consequences of its reckless, irresponsible and criminal behaviour.
Writer: Seyyed Reza Emadi
Translator: Mehran Derakhshandeh
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