Ali al-Sistani, the supreme religious authority for Iraqi Shiites, on Friday condemned the attacks exchanged by the United States and Iran on Iraqi soil, while the head of the Iraqi caretaker government, Adel Abdul-Mahdi, called on Washington to put in place a mechanism to withdraw its forces.

And Sistani, through his special representative, Ahmed Al-Safi, who delivered the Friday sermon in Karbala, warned of the deterioration of security in the country and the region as a result of the confrontation between Washington and Tehran.

The United States assassinated the commander of the Iranian Quds Force, General Qassem Soleimani, in an air strike near Baghdad airport on January 3, and Iran responded late last Tuesday by firing missiles at two bases hosting American forces in Iraq.

These developments are the most dangerous escalation of tension between the United States and Iran, and have raised fears of a large-scale conflict in the Middle East.

Al-Sistani said that these attacks violate the sovereignty of Iraq and that external forces should not be allowed to determine the fate of the country, stressing that Iraq should be governed by its own children, not strangers.

He added, "Dealing in a manner dominated by the various parties, each of which possesses an aspect of power, influence and potential, and trying each of them to impose their vision on the rest will lead to the persistence of the crisis and its inability to solve."

The Shiite authority stressed the need for Iraq to be the master of itself, and for its people to rule it without external interference, asking the parties concerned to shoulder their responsibilities in arriving at a comprehensive vision for the future of the country.

Abdul-Mahdi supports the demands of Iraqi lawmakers to withdraw American forces (Getty Images)

Mechanisms and demands
For his part, the head of the Iraqi caretaker government, Adel Abdul-Mahdi, called on US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to send delegates to put mechanisms to implement the decision of the Iraqi parliament to implement a safe withdrawal of American forces from Iraq.

The media office of the head of the caretaker government said that Abdul-Mahdi, during a call with Pompeo, rejected all operations that violate the sovereignty of Iraq, including the recent Iranian operation that targeted Ein al-Assad bases in Anbar and Harir in Arbil.

The media office added that Abdul-Mahdi told the US Secretary of State that there are American forces entering Iraq and marches in his sky without permission from the government.

Abdul-Mahdi also indicated that he supports the demands of Iraqi lawmakers to withdraw US forces in the wake of the assassination of Soleimani, and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, deputy head of the Iraqi Popular Mobilization Committee, in a US air raid in Baghdad last Friday, an assassination that threatened to turn Iraq into a battlefield.

The Iraqi parliament, in a session held last Sunday, passed a resolution, with the consent of the majority of the attendees, requesting the government to end the presence of any foreign forces in the territories and prevent it from using the Iraqi airspace for any reason.

Regarding the abolition of the security agreement between Iraq and the United States, Speaker of Parliament Muhammad al-Halbousi said that this is the prerogative of the government, which is empowered by the agreement and the Iraqi government can notify the American side of canceling it and setting a timetable for this.

6120950913001 b3649d29-6dba-4dce-875a-a04e93d140db b501311a-5481-4keep-843c-7beb5d61ed87
video

Threat and rejection
For his part, US President Donald Trump after the Iraqi parliament's decision threatened to impose sanctions on Iraq if the American forces are forced to leave.

He added that if his forces left, Baghdad would have to pay Washington the cost of an air base there.

On the other hand, witnessed the Tahrir Square in the center of the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, today, large numbers of demonstrators, who came from many regions to participate in the protests witnessed in the square since October 25 to call for political reform.

The demonstrators raised slogans condemning foreign interference in the country's affairs, regardless of the names and backgrounds of this interference.

The demonstrators condemned the lack of a real response by the political parties so far to their demands, especially the appointment of a new prime minister and the formation of a new government - away from the sectarian and political quota and influence of the ruling parties - that would be able to respond to the demands of political and economic reform they advocate.