Several thousand Iraqis took to the streets on the night of Saturday January 2 to Sunday January 3 to commemorate the first anniversary of the death of Iranian General Ghassem Soleimani and his Iraqi lieutenant Abu Mahdi al-Muhandi. A commemorative march with the air of conspiracy of the United States, at the origin of the attack that killed the two men, a year ago in Baghdad.
By candlelight and all dressed in black, the Iraqis greeted their “Martyrs”, at Baghdad International Airport (where the American attack took place) and booed the “Great Satan”, with reference to the United States. The strong tensions between the country of Uncle Sam and the Islamic Republic of Iran, both active in Iraq, raise fears of an open conflict on Iraqi soil.
After the candlelight vigil and the call of Hachd al-Chaabi, a coalition of pro-Iran paramilitaries in Iraq and now integrated with the country’s security forces, the demonstrators converged on Tahrir Square. With one voice, they chanted “No to America! ” or ” Revenge ! “, multiplying anti-American slogans and also attacking the one they accuse of being the“Agent” American in Iraq, Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kazimi.
A year ago, on January 3, 2020, US President Donald Trump ordered the drone attack that will spray two vehicles where Ghassem Soleimani, architect of Iranian strategy in the Middle East, and Abu Mehdi al-Muhandi, the commander were. Hachd al-Chaabi, a coalition of tens of thousands of pro-Iran paramilitaries in Iraq and now integrated into the country’s security forces.
“Maximum pressure”
“We say to America and to the enemies of Islam (…) that we will continue to resist despite the bloodshed”, Batoul Najjar, a supporter of Hachd al-Chaabi, told AFP. “Abu Mehdi al-Muhandi, we will go out by the millions to brandish your portrait on Tahrir”, again launched Ahmed Assadi, a leader of the parliamentary block of Hachd. A protester sums up the motivations of supporters of Hachd al-Chaabi: “We have come to say no to America and to any other occupier who wants to defile our land.”
Since Saturday, from the top of a huge derelict building, a giant poster of Ghassem Soleimani and Abu Mehdi al-Muhandi has been overlooking this emblematic square. Deployed by Hachd al-Chaabi, this poster is quite a symbol. Because in 2019, tens of thousands of Iraqis were then, from this same building and Tahrir Square, the Iraqi power and its ” Godfather “ Iranian. In some manifestations of the “October revolution”, portraits of Soleimani had even been trampled.
In this context of strong tensions, governments are scaring each other and threatening each other. Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif tweeted that in Iraq, “Israeli agents provocateurs plan attacks on Americans” to place “Trump in a dead end with a manufactured casus belli”. Tehran, for its part, accused Mr. Trump of seeking to manufacture ” an excuse “ for throwing ” a war “ before his departure, after a mandate of “Maximum pressure” against Iran.
New anti-American protests to come
“Watch out for the trap”, launched Mr. Zarif, “All fireworks will experience a serious flashback, especially against your best friend [Israël, N.D.L.R.] “. Trump responds in the same tone: evoking “Speculation about further attacks against Americans in Iraq”, he warned that “If an American [était] killed, I will hold Iran responsible “.
Iran had, at the time, responded to the assassination of Soleimani by firing missiles at Iraqi bases housing American soldiers. And he warned that the perpetrators of the assassination of his general would not be “Nowhere safe”.
Iraqis anxiously await the coming weeks as Washington and Tehran have been on the brink of war for the past 18 months, especially after Soleimani’s elimination. Without forgetting the tensions in the Gulf and those linked to the international agreement on Iranian nuclear power unilaterally denounced by Mr. Trump.
On the one hand, pro-Iran Iraqi groups have resumed their rocket attacks against American interests in Iraq. On the other hand, the specter of a possible last stand for Mr. Trump, before Joe Biden succeeds him on January 20, still looms. At the call of Hachd al-Chaabi, the Iraqis must converge, later in the day on Sunday, towards Tahrir square to denounce “The American occupier”.
