ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — Iraq will protect the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) against recurring attacks that target Iraq’s sovereignty and distract from anti-Islamic State action in the country, Iraq’s Prime Minister, President, and Speaker of the Council of Representatives said on Monday, amid recurring air attacks against the group.
Iraq’s President Barham Salih, Prime Minister Adil Abdul-Mahdi, and Speaker of the Council of Representatives Mohammed al-Halbousi met with Falih al-Fayadh, head of the Popular Mobilization [Forces] Commission and other leaders on Monday. They praised the PMF – known as Hashd al-Shaabi in Arabic – for its role in combating ISIS, according to a readout published by the Iraqi Presidency Media Office.
“Attacks Hashd has faced as of late is partly to reel Hashd and the national defense apparatus into distraction from the continuous important role in destroying the remnants of Daesh [Islamic State] and thoroughly getting rid of terror and its dangers against Iraq,” the readout said.
“The state will shoulder protecting and defending them against any targeting,” Iraq’s government vowed, adding that Hashd and the state's armed forces should not lose focus in the anti-ISIS campaign in Iraq aimed at quelling an apparent ISIS resurgence in the country’s northern and western provinces.
The “flagrant” attacks against Hashd are targeting the “powerful, capable” Iraq, added the readout.
“Iraq, through the government, through all active channels, and through international and regional organizations, will undertake all measures that could prevent attackers and defend Iraq, its security and sovereignty.”
Abdul-Mahdi published a separate statement on his Facebook page later Monday calling for national unity, avoiding entangling Iraq in a foreign conflict and making sure the government is the top authority in the country.
The president, prime minister, and speaker also agreed to speak to the US-led international coalition to protect Iraq’s airspace, according to Abdul-Mahdi's statement.
Iraq is to "follow up on the agreements and understandings with the international coalition in a manner that helps in it [the Coalition] adhering to its commitments towards Iraq’s sovereignty, independence, security and safety,” the statement said.
The meeting of the president, prime minister and parliament speaker – known in Iraq as the three presidencies - was in response to a string of alleged aerial strikes against the PMF, made up of predominantly Shiite groups with extensive historical ties to Iran.
The explosions at PMF weapons depots were initially blamed on negligent weapons storage in scorching Iraqi summer temperatures. However, blame has increasingly turned to Israel, which is apprehensive about Iran-backed group presence in the Middle East and is conducting strikes on Iranian targets in Syria.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had reportedly suggested that Israel may have been behind the spate of attacks in Iraq, saying “Iran has no immunity anywhere.”
According to a US Department of State readout released on August 25, Netanyahu told US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo that Israel would strike Iranian targets threatening Israel “wherever they are located.”
However, Israel is yet to officially confirm if it is targeting Iran-backed militias in Iraq.
Amid increasing speculation surrounding the culprit of the explosions and fears that the strikes mean Iraq was being roped into US-Iran and Israel-Iran tensions, Iraq’s three presidencies also met last Thursday, saying Iraq will not be party to a proxy war.
Hashd al-Shaabi paramilitaries, although officially part of Iraq’s armed forces, operate almost independently from the Iraqi government and have their own structural and command organization.
Hashd is officially under the authority of the Hashd al-Shaabi Commission, a body ratified by Iraq’s parliament during the fight against ISIS. The Commission reports to Iraq’s Prime Minister.
It was this semi-autonomy that prompted Abdul-Mahdi, who is also the commander-in-chief of Iraq’s armed forces, to issue Hashd’s full integration into the forces by July 31.
