The Iraqi parliament voted on Sunday to support the expulsion of all foreign troops from the Iraqi territory and cutting off ties with the US-led international anti-terrorist coalition due to the Friday’s assassination of Qasem Soleimani, the commander of the elite Quds Force of the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in Bagdad.
US President Donald Trump referred to the Balad military base that houses US forces some 50 miles north of Baghdad. Trump also hinted that the administration “may discuss” releasing intelligence related to the killing of Qassem Soleimani.
“We have a very extraordinarily expensive airbase that’s there. It cost billions of dollars to build. Long before my time We’re not leaving unless they pay us back for it […] We will charge them sanctions like they’ve never seen before ever. It’ll make Iranian sanctions look somewhat tame”, Trump said Sunday, while he was traveling from Florida.
Kataib Hezbollah, Iraqi Shia militias within the Iran-backed Popular Mobilization Forces, threatened earlier to launch attacks on military installations used by the US forces in Iraq if the Trump administration does not quickly implement the Iraqi ultimatum to withdraw its troops from the nation.
Over the weekend, the Iraqi capital already witnessed several rocket attacks, including in the residential area of Al-Jadriya and the Balad military base. No one has claimed the responsibility for the shellings.
The United States expressed disappointment over the Iraqi parliament’s decision to recommend that the government ban foreign troops from the country. The US-led international coalition has said it was suspending its anti-terrorist operations in Iraq, adding that its activities would be focused on protecting US military bases in the country in the wake of the recent attacks on the facilities hosting US troops.
Due to the possible expulsion of the US troops from Iraq, EU leaders have called on Baghdad to ensure continued support for the international US-led anti-terrorism coalition.
Trump, who had authorized the killing of the top Iranian general, has said that the assassination was a preemptive, defensive move to prevent war, although later claimed that Washington has identified 52 further Iranian targets at which US forces are ready to strike. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has warned that Tehran will take revenge for what Tehran views to be an act of terrorism.
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