In a joint statement released following a meeting in Baghdad on Thursday, Iraq’s Prime Minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi, President Barham Salih and Speaker of the Council of Representatives Mohammed Halbousi said they are on the same page regarding being dragged into a regional war.
“The meeting confirmed...the refusal of political agendas and the distancing the country from beign a platform for escalations against any neighboring country and the region,” read the statement, which Halbousi posted on his facebook page.
On Wednesday, Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, deputy chairman of the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), also known as the Hashd al-Shaabi, said that explosions at a PMF installation on Tuesday in the Saladin province were the result of a US or Israeli strike. It was the latest of several of such incidents at PMF bases in Iraq recently.
Muhandis argued that the US’ operations in Iraqi airspace and Israeli Prime Minister’s Benjamin Netanyahu’s refusal to deny Israeli involvement in previous strikes led him to his conclusion.
PMF leadership was not in agreement with Muhandis’ assessment. Also on Wednesday, PMF head Faleh al-Fayyadh said the matter was an “external act,” but that the investigation into the incidents needs to continue.
"The investigations will continue until the responsible entities are accurately identified to be able to take the appropriate stances,” AFP reported Fayyadh as saying in a statement.
The prime minister, president and speaker of the parliament also said the explosions at PMF sites need to be investigated.
On August 13, a massive blast engulfed another PMF arms depot at the al-Saqr military base in Dora neighborhood of Baghdad, killing one person and injuring 13 more.
In July, an airstrike blamed on an ISIS drone hit a PMF base in Amerli, Diyala province, injuring two PMF fighters. Two Iranian advisors working with the PMF were injured in the strike.
“US are using the drones to target the PMF and Iraqi bases, rather than targeting Daesh,” said Muhandis in his Facebook post Wednesday on the strikes, using the Arabic acronym for the Islamic State (ISIS).
Muhandis said that Hashd would defend itself with the weapons at its disposal and target drones or aircraft flying above PMF bases.
Amid increasing US-Iran tensions, Iraq has said more than once that it wants to be neutral and not take sides in the tensions. Iraq’s war against ISIS ended less than two years ago, and operations against the group continue. Many PMF units are close to Iran and receive a variety of support from the Islamic Republic.
