Foreign Policy: Iran is behind the killing of Iraqi protesters and adherence to Abdul-Mahdi

Many protesters in Iraq say Tehran plays a major role in the recent violence and has refused to step down as Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi, according to a report in the Foreign Policy magazine.

During the past month, thousands of Iraqis took to the streets of Baghdad and other Iraqi cities in peaceful protests demanding reforms, but they were surprised by the amount of violence they met with security personnel, using tear gas and live bullets, causing dozens of casualties in a week. One.

In the Green Zone (where the government and parliament are based), another battle is taking place, with politicians studying the fate of Abdul Mahdi, a consensus candidate.

The demonstrations revealed divisions between the real holders of power and influence, as it turned out that Iran has a large share of them in Iraq.

The writer noted that many protesters blame Iran and its supporting forces for the wave of violence against them, which led them to demand the elimination of Iranian influence, as confirmed by the chants against Iran and the burning of its flag in the arena of demonstrations.

Iran is exploiting
In this context, one of the young protesters who came out demanding that Iran does not interfere in the internal affairs of the country, that Iran is exploiting Iraq to achieve its own interests and support the survival of Abdul Mahdi in office.

It is worth mentioning that 60% of the Iraqi people - numbering 40 million people - are under the age of 25 years, and the difficult economic and living conditions of this generation were the main motive behind the recent protests.

The unemployment rate among young people is 25%, and statistics show that one in five people live below the poverty line, despite the huge oil wealth in Iraq.

Little trick
Abdul-Mahdi, who has reportedly expressed his desire to resign, is clearly under-resourced and has no real authority. He came to his post through an Iranian-backed coalition, which is why the Iranian authorities want him to stay.

Nevertheless, the protesters were determined to continue their movement and stick to their demands for an end to Iranian influence and comprehensive reforms of the government system.

The writer said that Abdul-Mahdi took office after reaching a settlement between the two largest blocs in the Iraqi parliament, namely: the coalition "Saeron" led by Sadr leader Muqtada al-Sadr, and the Fatah coalition led by Hadi al-Amiri, and that the leaders of the two blocs already reached an agreement last Tuesday to dismiss Abdul Mahdi to ease Intensified protests.

She added that the commander of the Iranian Qods Force Qasim Soleimani arrived on the second day to Baghdad and met secretly with Ameri, the latter announced his adherence to Abdul-Mahdi as prime minister.

Later, Sadr issued a statement expressing his anger, saying that in the absence of Abdul-Mahdi's resignation there will be more bloodshed, stressing that he did not deal again with Amiri.

Liberation Square
In Tahrir Square, recent political decisions - including reforms or talk of the government's resignation - have not received the approval of protesters, who have become more demanding of Abdul Mahdi's resignation, and raised their demands to bring down the entire regime.

"We want a republican state, we don't want a parliamentary state," said protester Ammar Abdelkhalek, an 18-year-old student. "All parliamentarians are thieves and do not serve the interests of the people."

"It seems as if politicians are trying to avoid the main problem by pursuing Abdul-Mahdi. Instead, they should develop a plan, strategy and some concrete measures that they can propose to the people," said Mariam bin Raad, a researcher at the Arab and Islamic World Research Institute. Because the Iraqis will no longer believe the promises of the political class and the false elites that they will try to change. "

Despite the violence and the large number of victims, many demonstrators are willing to make more sacrifices in order to achieve their goal of overthrowing the regime.

The author blamed Iran for dozens of deaths in demonstrations in Iraq in early October, when masked snipers fired at demonstrators from rooftops.

She warned that Suleimani's recent visit to Iraq indicated that Tehran was not ready to loosen its grip on him, and feared an increase in violence as the protests entered their second month and more bloodshed.

The writer concluded that the future remains unclear, but the only certainty is that the protesters will not simply return home.