ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – In the latest downturn in relations between the United States and Iraq over the country’s Shiite forces, Iraq’s foreign ministry has declared the Hashd al-Shaabi an “inseparable” part of the national forces and has rejected the United States’ labelling its deputy commander a terrorist.
The Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), under the deputy command of Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, are a legal Iraqi force that has fought bravely against terrorism in Iraq, the spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement on Friday.
As such, the ministry rejected US comments describing Muhandis as a terrorist and called on the US State Department to review their position, particularly in light of American support for the Iraqi forces.
Muhandis is designated a “terrorist” by the United States for his membership in Hezbollah, targeting of Coalition and Iraqi forces in 2009, and ties to Quds commander Qassem Soleimani.
State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert reiterated that position during a press briefing on Thursday.
The Hashd al-Shaabi (PMF) rejected the US statement as “useless.”
The Iranian-backed largely Shiite forces were already bristling over American attitudes towards their forces after Secretary of State Rex Tillerson advised “Iranian militias” in Iraq to “go home,” when speaking in Riyadh last weekend.
The Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), under the deputy command of Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, are a legal Iraqi force that has fought bravely against terrorism in Iraq, the spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement on Friday.
As such, the ministry rejected US comments describing Muhandis as a terrorist and called on the US State Department to review their position, particularly in light of American support for the Iraqi forces.
Muhandis is designated a “terrorist” by the United States for his membership in Hezbollah, targeting of Coalition and Iraqi forces in 2009, and ties to Quds commander Qassem Soleimani.
State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert reiterated that position during a press briefing on Thursday.
The Hashd al-Shaabi (PMF) rejected the US statement as “useless.”
The Iranian-backed largely Shiite forces were already bristling over American attitudes towards their forces after Secretary of State Rex Tillerson advised “Iranian militias” in Iraq to “go home,” when speaking in Riyadh last weekend.
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