The Iraqi Prime Minister, Mustafa Al-Kazemi, sent a delegation to Iran, on Sunday evening, hours after the situation in Baghdad became tense due to the arrest of a prominent leader in the "Asa'ib Ahl al-Haq" movement led by Qais Khazali, apparently in an attempt to reduce tension between him and a number The Iraqi factions, as well as neutralizing Iraq from any potential conflict between Iran and the United States, while Tehran considered the bilateral talks to come in the context of continuous coordination between the two sides.
Al-Jazeera Net correspondent in Baghdad, Riyadh Fakhri, quotes an Iraqi government source in Al-Kazemi's office, "The prime minister carried a message to Iran about the bombing, which affected the US embassy, and the threats that the Shiite factions direct to the government."
The source adds that "Al-Kazemi's message does not contain any threatening language; rather, it is a dialogue language in which Iran urges to calm the situation in Iraq and not escalate with the Americans."
The source pointed out that “Al-Kazemi sent an oral admonition to Iran about the actions of some armed factions close to it, calling on it to exert its efforts to prevent attacks on US interests on the anniversary of the killing of the former Iranian Quds Force commander, Qassem Soleimani, and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, deputy head of the Popular Mobilization Forces.” Al-Iraqi, due on January 3, 2021.
Al-Qaisi believes that the dialogue policy pursued by Al-Kazemi is useless in front of factions that weaken and erode the state (communication sites)
With calming down
The arrest of the commander of the missile forces in Asaib Ahl al-Haq, Hussam al-Zirjawi, is the spark that triggered the latest tensions, and as a result, gunmen affiliated with this group deployed in some areas of Baghdad last Friday night, which prompted Al-Kazemi to bring the Counter-Terrorism Service to the street.
"We did not threaten the government, and we are not among those seeking chaos, and what happened a few days ago was nothing more than a media spoiler," said Mahmoud al-Rabei, the spokesman for the political bureau of the "Asa'ib Ahl al-Haq Movement".
He added, "We do not know the nature of the delegation, which went to Tehran, but we are with dialogue, calm and not weakening the state. We support Kazemi, and when he is wrong, we will stand against him."
The armed Shiite factions take an unfriendly attitude towards Al-Kazemi, and have long accused him of being involved in the assassination of Soleimani and Al-Muhandis, when he was head of the Iraqi intelligence service.
With this attitude and the threats that Al Kazemi is constantly exposed to,
However, he did not take an escalating stance, except for what he talked about last Friday after the "Asa'ib Ahl al-Haq" movement took to the streets when he said, "We demanded a calm to prevent our country from being thrown into another absurd adventure; but we are ready for a decisive confrontation if necessary."
Retired Major General Majid Al-Qaisi talks to Al-Jazeera Net about "the policy of dialogue that Al-Kazemi pursues with the armed factions."
But at the same time he believes that it is "useless in front of factions that weaken and erode the state."
He says, "Al-Kazemi wants to distance Iraq from the US-Iranian conflict, and is trying to have a balance in relations with the two countries, and the delegation that sent him to Tehran carried a message stating that Iran should stop using Iraq as an arena for its conflicts."
But a source in the "Hezbollah Brigades" told Al-Jazeera Net about "Al-Kazemi's collusion with the Americans to strike the Shiite factions, or what is known as the resistance factions," and says that "Al-Kazemi is looking for a crisis and a clash with the factions, and although we do not want it, we are ready for it." .
The source pointed out that "Al-Kazemi is making himself a hero in the media to delude the people, and in order to create from the crowd and armed factions a fake enemy that he uses before the next elections to win the popular, which we have fled from since the first months, and we have warned and warn him not to be a tool in the hands of Washington."
This source confirms, "The delegation that Al-Kazemi sent to Iran will talk about what is related to Iran only, and the delegation told us not to speak on our behalf, and what is related to us we define it, and we decide it, and revenge for the engineer is not subject to dialogue."
Khatibzadeh: Tehran does not want any tension in the region;
But it will defend its interests and national security with all force (Al Jazeera)
The Iranian position
On the other hand, the Iranian Foreign Ministry considered that the visit of the Iraqi delegation came in the context of "continuous coordination" between the two countries, and upon an official invitation from Tehran, confirming the existence of intensive contacts with Baghdad on various issues of common interest.
Commenting on the Iraqi calls for the removal of Mesopotamia from the conflicts of Washington and Tehran, the Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman, Saeed Khatibzadeh, said that Tehran does not want any tension in the region;
But it will defend its interests and national security with full force, reminding the Iraqi side that Qassem Soleimani was an official guest in Baghdad, and that the crime took place on its territory.
The Iraqi guest carries a political and economic agenda in his pocket to Tehran, according to former Iranian diplomat Amir Mousavi, who confirmed that the escalation resulting from targeting US interests in Baghdad by unknown parties tops the agenda of the Iraqi delegation in its negotiations with Iranian officials.
He explained in an interview with Al-Jazeera Net that the region is going through very delicate conditions during the last days of the US President Donald Trump's era, stressing the ability of the head of the Iraqi delegation, who has very good relations with Tehran, to moisten the atmosphere and understanding to block the way to the parties that want to spark crises on the ground. Iraqi.
He expressed his regret at what he called the influence of some Iraqi politicians by the media propaganda hostile to Iran and the involvement of Tehran in their internal issues, stressing that a large incubator for the resistance movements in Iraq rejects the American presence in its country and wants revenge for its military leader Abu Mahdi Al-Muhandis and the guest of Baghdad, Qassem Soleimani, and Iran has nothing to do with it. that.
He added, "Whoever wants to calm things down in Iraq must control the American presence by implementing the parliament’s decision to expel foreign forces from this country," stressing that the Iraqi guest heard a clear message from Tehran that the Iraqi parties should understand each other, and that the Islamic Republic is ready to help without interfering in Their affairs.
Escalation regarding targeting US interests in Baghdad tops the agenda of the Iraqi delegation (communication sites)
Due debts
Mousavi indicated that Tehran is obliged to reduce its gas exports to Iraq for reasons including high domestic consumption in light of the cold weather, as well as Baghdad's failure to pay its accumulated debts due to importing energy from Iran, noting that Tehran had accepted receiving the amounts in Iraqi dinars without Feasibility.
He pointed out that the issue of reducing the volume of Iranian gas exports to Iraq was present at the negotiating table, explaining that Tehran suffers from several problems due to US sanctions, and that Iraq’s continued failure to pay the bill for its Iranian energy imports will cause a crisis for the Iranian side.
In the context, the National Iranian Gas Company announced that the decision to reduce its exports to Iraq came after its Iraqi counterpart ignored several notices calling for the need to pay off its owed debts amounting to more than $ 6 billion.
Security nature
in the
meantime, the
political scientist Qais Qureshi believes that the
security nature of
regional developments Tgaa on the
visit of the
Iraqi delegation to Tehran, and revealed that the
Iraqi side asked Iran to
mediate between Baghdad and the
Hezbollah Brigades and the
League of the
Righteous;
To reduce tension, which reached dangerous levels among them in recent days.
In his speech to Al-Jazeera Net, he touched on what he called Zionist and American attempts with Arab blessing to drag Iran into war during the remaining days of the Trump era, and said that "the Iranian and Iraqi sides agree on the need not to turn Iraq into an arena for settling scores between Washington and Tehran, and they coordinate to avoid any conflicts during the stage Transition in the White House. "
Qureshi expressed his belief that the recent missile attacks on the US embassy in Baghdad - which were present in the Iraqi-Iranian negotiations - were not made by Iran's allies, stressing that the Iraqi movements loyal to Iran possess accurate short-range missiles, and if they really wanted to target US interests, they have What it can do, describing the timing of the campaigns as suspicious.
He concluded that the negotiations of the Iraqi delegation in Tehran were aimed at neutralizing the country's territory from any potential conflicts between Iran and the United States, as well as Baghdad's desire to undermine the relationship between Tehran and the Iraqi movements, which it deems undisciplined.
Qureshi concluded that the balance of power in the Gulf region will change in favor of the axis of resistance shortly after Trump leaves the White House.