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Iranian commander courts top Iraqi officials


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Middle East

New Iranian commander courts top Iraqi officials to dismiss PM-designate

9 hours ago
 
 

New Iranian commander courts top Iraqi officials to dismiss PM-designate
Brigadier General Esmail Ghaani, who replaced Qasim Soleimani as the commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Quds Force, gives a public statement. (Photo: AP)
 
Iraq Iran US
 
 

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Following in the footsteps of his predecessor who was assassinated in January by the US military, an Iranian general was in Baghdad this week to meet with top Iraqi officials and lobby against a prime ministerial candidate opposed by Iraq's political factions close to Tehran.

Brigadier General Esmail Ghaani, the new commander of the Quds Force branch of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), made the visit as much of the nation is shut down because of the coronavirus pandemic and many Iraqis voice harsh criticism of the nation's ruling elite who they charge is unabashedly corrupt and has consistently failed to meet the basic needs of those they claim to represent.

Ghaani arrived on late Monday at Baghdad International Airport, Iraqi officials told the Associated Press. In early January, a US airstrike just outside the airport killed the notorious general who last held his post, Qasim Soleimani.

The American operation came in response to repeated attacks on American troops and facilities across Iraq, with one in late December killing a US civilian contractor. Repeated missile strikes on Iraqi bases hosting US forces have killed and wounded a number of soldiers in March.

Read More: Coalition, Iraqi troops wounded in second rocket attack on base north of Baghdad

Soleimani played a crucial role in expanding and maintaining Iran’s influence in Iraq, on occasion coming to Baghdad to settle differences among rival Shia parties, prominent among them political representatives of Tehran-backed militias within the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF).

As members of the Iraqi security forces continued to crack down on anti-government protests in late 2019, then Prime Minister Adil Abdul Mahdi stepped down. The violence was carried out in part by members of militias openly backed and armed by the Quds Force and operating under the PMF umbrella.

Although exact data is not available, estimates by rights organizations say a minimum of 600 demonstrators have been killed and close to 20,000 others have been wounded, mostly peaceful demonstrators.

As the pressure on Abdul Mahdi grew, Soleimani turned up in Baghdad to keep the troubled premier in power, a Reuters report said in November. Despite his efforts, Abdul Mahdi resigned after Iraq’s top Shia authority, Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, withdrew his support later that month after security forces' violent response to the protesters one day resulted in a particularly deadly outcome.

In the months since Abdul Mahdi announced his resignation, negotiations to form a new government have been beset by seemingly intractable disputes and a struggle for dominance among Shia parties, as is the norm in Iraqi politics. Multiple candidates then came forth to take his post. The first who gained a successful nomination by Iraqi President Barham Salih, the first step in the process as outlined in Iraq's constitution, was former communication minister Mohammed Allawi, who failed to win enough votes for parliamentary approval of his cabinet in early March.

On March 16, Salih personally appointed Adnan al-Zurfi as the new prospective premier tasked with forming a cabinet within 30 days and face the same vote among lawmakers that eluded Allawi.

Seeing Zurfi as a US ally, various Iran-backed groups—including the Fatah Alliance led by commander of the PMF's Badr Organization militia and former transportation minister Hadi al-Amiri—denounced the nomination, claiming it was “ unconstitutional.”

Zurfi is the leader of former Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi’s Victory Alliance in the legislature. The National Wisdom Movement, another influential parliamentary group led by Shia cleric Ammar al-Hakim, has endorsed the hopeful prime minister. 

Read More: Iran-backed faction rejects ‘unconstitutional’ nomination of new Iraqi PM

The position of Muqtada al-Sadr, whose Sairoon coalition came in at first place in the 2018 national elections, remains unclear as he has yet to publicly endorse or reject Zurfi.

The politicians whom Ghaani met this week included Amiri, Abadi, Abdul Mahdi, and Salih, a political source familiar with the meetings told Kurdistan 24 on condition of anonymity. Zurfi also reportedly met with Sadr. According to another source, the Quds Force commander relayed Iran’s rejection of Zurfi’s nomination to all.

“This is his first test to see if he can succeed in uniting the [Shia] position, as Soleimani was doing,” one official connected to a Shia party told the Associated Press.

Playing out against the backdrop of the deadly coronavirus epidemic that has hospitalized hundreds of Iraqis, a potentially crippling financial crisis looming due to the lowered price of oil—the country’s near-exclusive source of income—, and the still-unresolved standoff between protesters and a government chronically unable to govern effectively enough to provide basic public services to its people, whoever ends up as the future prime minister faces dizzying challenges as he navigates Iraq’s convoluted political arena. 

Editing by John J. Catherine

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10 hours ago, trident said:

Brigadier General Esmail Ghaani, who replaced Qasim Soleimani as the commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Quds Force,

 

And he is going to end up just like he predecessor in due fashion.

 

SR

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