An Iraqi news report stated yesterday that the "Construction Alliance" in the Iraqi parliament excluded its candidate to form the next government, Asaad Al-Eidani, and three new names were offered, two of them are senior army leaders, while the death toll from the American air strikes rose to 25, which targeted Sunday night. Bases of a pro-Iranian Iraqi faction, in response to an American death in a missile attack, which sparked outrage in Iraq, while the Pentagon described the attacks as "successful."
The government newspaper, Al-Sabah, revealed yesterday that the names currently nominated are retired Lieutenant General Abdul-Ghani Al-Asadi, Lieutenant General Tawfiq Al-Yasiri, and independent candidate Mohammed Tawfiq Allawi, adding that there appears to be agreement by protesters and political blocs to accept one of them to form the government.
The newspaper quoted Deputy Fadel Jaber, a member of the Construction Alliance, as saying that "Al-Asadi is the most fortunate, as it is accepted by all parties, including the Iraqi street."
The Iraqi President, Barham Salih, last Thursday put his readiness to resign from his post at the disposal of the House of Representatives, and apologized for not instructing Al-Eidani to form the next government.
Al-Eidani’s assignment had been rejected by the protesters.
On the other hand, the death toll from the American air strikes, which targeted the bases of an Iraqi pro-Iranian faction, has risen to 25 dead, and in the face of the repeated attacks on American interests in Iraq, the United States promised a firm response.
The American forces launched a series of raids, the night before last, targeting command and control facilities of the "Hezbollah Brigades", one of the most prominent factions loyal to Iran in the popular crowd, which is part of the Iraqi forces and is subject to Iranian domination.
For its part, Tehran considered yesterday that these strikes reveal "support for terrorism", by Washington, especially since the Hezbollah Brigades belonged to the Popular Mobilization Forces, which was formed to fight ISIS, and today it is part of the Iraqi forces.
"The outcome of the brutal attack on the headquarters of the brigades 45 and 46 amounted to 25 dead and 51 wounded," said a statement issued yesterday, issued by the official of the Movements Directorate in the Popular Mobilization Authority, Jawad Kazim al-Rabaiwi.
The statement indicated that "the death toll can be increased, due to the presence of wounded in critical condition, and severe injuries," as a result of the bombing that targeted facilities belonging to the "Hezbollah Brigades" near the city of Qaim, and along the Iraqi-Syrian border in western Iraq.
The American Defense Secretary, Mark Asper, announced yesterday that the strikes against the bases of the pro-Iranian Hezbollah Brigades in Iraq and Syria were “successful”, and he did not rule out other steps, “if necessary in order to work in self-defense and deter militias.” Or Iran », who committed hostile acts.
Asper, in the presence of Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, said that he had discussed earlier with US President Donald Trump, "other options on the table", after 11 rocket attacks during the past two months against American interests in Iraq, where an uprising against the authority and patronage of Iran broke out, while Washington appears Politically absent.
US sources pointed the finger at the "Hezbollah Brigades", and these sources considered the pro-Iranian popular crowd factions as a source of greater threat than that posed by the sleeping cells of ISIS.
For his part, the spokesman for the caretaker head, Adel Abdel-Mahdi, who is the commander-in-chief of the armed forces, condemned the "violation of Iraqi sovereignty," and Iraqi President Barham Salih also used the same description, while religious authority, Ali Sistani, condemned the strikes, and said in a statement Illegal practices by some parties should not be used as an excuse to violate Iraq’s sovereignty.
In the same context, the "Asa’ib Ahl al-Haq" group, in which US sanctions against leaders were announced recently, said that "the American military presence has become a burden on the Iraqi state, but rather a source of threat and aggression against our armed forces."
In Beirut, the Lebanese "Hezbollah" expressed its condemnation of what it described as "an American brutal and treacherous aggression", considering it a "blatant aggression against the sovereignty, security and stability of Iraq, and against the Iraqi people."
On the other hand, Bahrain welcomed the American strikes. The American strikes coincided with the continued popular protests taking place in Baghdad and most of the southern cities of the country. The protesters are demanding a political "dismantling" of the United States established after the 2003 invasion of Iraq.