US report signals Iranian "fear" and sending Soleimani to Iraq on a mission

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[size=52]Report: Qasim Soleimani fails to end protests in Iraq despite being directed to suppress them[/size]

[size=45]The Associated Press reported that the Iranian Quds Force commander, Qasem Soleimani, attended an Iraqi security meeting instead of Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi, which came as a surprise to the officials present. Soleimani vowed, according to the agency, to suppress the demonstrations but failed so far.
[size=45]The IAEA also stressed in its report that Iran is losing influence in Iraq and Lebanon because of the failure of its agents to maintain this influence.[/size]
[size=45]Soleimani suppresses the demonstrations[/size]
[size=45]In detail, a day after the outbreak of anti-government protests in Iraq, Qassem Soleimani went to the capital Baghdad late at night, and took a helicopter to the heavily fortified Green Zone, where a group of senior security officials surprised to chair the meeting instead of the Prime Minister![/size]
[size=45]“We in Iran know how to deal with the protests,” he told Iraqi officials. This happened in Iran and we took control of it, ”said senior officials familiar with the meeting who spoke on condition of anonymity.[/size]
[size=45]The day after Suleimani's visit, clashes between demonstrators and security forces in Iraq became much more violent, with the death toll rising to 100 after unidentified snipers fired at protesters in the head and chest. About 150 demonstrators were killed in less than a week.[/size]
[size=45]According to the agency, the arrival of Soleimani and engineer of the Regional Security Agency of Tehran to Iran's serious concern about the protests that erupted throughout Baghdad and in the heart of Iraq, where the protests included calls for Tehran to stop interference in the region.[/size]
[size=45]Soleimani failed[/size]
[size=45]Nearly a month later, protests in Iraq have resumed and demonstrations in Lebanon have also erupted against governments and factions allied with Tehran.[/size]
[size=45]During renewed protests in Iraq this week, men in civilian clothes and black masks stood in front of soldiers in the face of demonstrators, firing tear gas. Residents said they did not know who they were, with some predicting they were Iranians.[/size]
[size=45]Challenge Iran's influence[/size]
[size=45]The report notes that the protests in Iraq and Lebanon are fueled by local grievances and are directed mainly at political elites allied with Iran, a challenge to Tehran, which is closely supporting armed militias in each country.[/size]
[size=45]The increasingly violent crackdown in Iraq and the attack by Hezbollah supporters on the main protest camp in the Lebanese capital, Beirut, have raised fears of a backlash from Iran and its allies against the demonstrations.[/size]
[size=45]For his part, said Iraqi security analyst, Hisham al-Hashemi, "Iran fears these demonstrations, because it has achieved the biggest gains in the government and parliament through the parties close to them since the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003."[/size]
[size=45]As Hashemi pointed out: “Iran does not want to lose these gains. It has tried to work through its parties to contain the protests in a very Iranian way, ”she said, referring to her failure to contain the protests.[/size]
[size=45]Iraqis Against Iran's Influence[/size]
[size=45]Protests resumed in Iraq on Friday after a brief pause as protesters gathered in Baghdad's Tahrir Square and clashed with security forces as they tried to break through barricades on a bridge leading to the Green Zone, the seat of government and the home of several embassies.[/size]
[size=45]In southern Iraq, protesters burned the offices of political parties and militias backed by the Iranian-allied government.[/size]


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[size=52]Hawk: Tehran has spent 16 billion on its militias and we hope Iraq will stay away from it[/size]

[size=45]Iran has spent $ 16 billion on its "militias" in Iraq and Syria, US special envoy to Iran Brian Hawk said on Thursday.
[size=45]"During a year of sanctions, Iran's sales fell from 2.5 million barrels to 120,000," Hawk told Al Arabiya television, adding that sanctions had caused Iran's oil sector to collapse.[/size]
[size=45]"The Iranian regime is economically weak today because of sanctions compared to the situation two years ago," Hawk said.[/size]
[size=45]Hawke explained that the US sanctions on Iran were caused by its "destabilizing behavior in the region," recalling that Washington had announced "the establishment of a mechanism with Swiss banks to allow the export of humanitarian and medical materials to Iran."[/size]
[size=45]Hawke also stressed that Washington looks forward to "Iraqi steps towards moving away from dependence on Iran economically."[/size]


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