A source in the office of Iraqi President Barham Salih told Al-Jazeera that US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told the Iraqi president that Washington will close its embassy in Baghdad unless it stops targeting it with missiles, after the PMF acquitted itself of the attempts to bomb the embassy.
The source said that Pompeo told Saleh in a phone call two days ago that his country intended to close its embassy in Baghdad within a short period, in case the embassy was not repeatedly targeted by missile attacks.
The source added that Pompeo confirmed to Saleh that the decision to close the embassy is up to President Donald Trump, who does not want to enter the elections at a time when his country's embassy is under constant bombing and threat.
On the other hand, the source said that the United States decided to reduce the period of exempting Iraq from preventing the import of electricity from Iran, as a result of the sanctions that Washington applies to Tehran, from 120 days to 60 days only.
This came hours after the Popular Mobilization Authority issued a statement saying that it is an official military force that is committed to all orders issued by the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, and exercises its work according to the contexts and laws that apply to all Iraqi security institutions.
The statement also affirmed that the Popular Mobilization Forces are not concerned with any political conflicts or internal events taking place in the country, and it is not responsible for parties using its name for the purposes of distorting and distorting and carrying out suspicious operations and illegal military activity targeting foreign or civilian interests.
The Al-Fateh Parliamentary Alliance (48 seats in parliament) led by Hadi Al-Amiri and representing many of the Hashd factions, issued a statement expressing its condemnation of the missile attacks launched by unknown persons on the headquarters of diplomatic missions and official institutions, considering that they weaken the state and lead to serious results.
Over the past few weeks, attacks have escalated against the US embassy in Baghdad, US forces, and the forces and interests of other countries in the international coalition.