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U.S. Embassy Siege Shows Strength of Iraq's Pro-Iran Groups

(AFP) Maya Gebeily - The ease with which supporters of the pro-Iran Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) breezed past U.S.-trained Iraqi security forces to besiege the U.S. embassy in the high-security Green Zone in Baghdad on Tuesday demonstrated the PMF's dominance in Iraq, said Harith Hasan, an expert at the Carnegie Middle East Center. "A political-military faction imposed its will on everyone and commandeered all decisions." The PMF is formally part of Iraq's government forces and its nominal head, Faleh al-Fayyadh, also serves as the country's national security advisor. An Iraqi special forces fighter guarding the Green Zone said, "The [PMF] is now the most influential of Iraq's forces because the military and political leaders are allowing it to play this role." Phillip Smyth, a U.S.-based specialist in Shiite armed groups, said, "This demonstrates how much hold Tehran has over Baghdad. There shouldn't be any illusion." Among those marching on the U.S. embassy Tuesday were top figures in Iraq's security apparatus: Fayyadh, his deputy Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, and PMF commanders Qais al-Khazaali and Hadi al-Ameri. Their presence outraged U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who slammed the four as "terrorists" and "Iranian proxies."
2020-01-02 00:00:00
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