A “difficult situation” for Iraq: Biden is coming to push the pivot against Iran

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[size=52]A “difficult situation” for Iraq: Biden is coming to push the pivot against Iran[/size]

[size=45]The US website Le Ver warned President Joe Biden against taking a regional move to contain Iran, with the start of his visit to the Middle East imminent, which would put Iraq in a difficult situation and threaten its stability.[/size]
[size=45]According to the report, the initiative taken by Sadrist leader Muqtada al-Sadr recently to present a bill in the Iraqi parliament to criminalize normalization with Israel or dealing with it, its main objective is to preempt the move of the Biden administration, backed by Israel and Saudi Arabia, to work to contain Iran regionally, in light of the faltering efforts to resume the nuclear agreement. with her.[/size]
[size=45]The American report indicated that with the suspension of efforts to revive the nuclear agreement that former President Donald Trump withdrew from in 2018, the Biden administration is under increasing pressure to shift its focus to expanding the Ibrahim Agreements, which included reconciliation between Israel and four Arab countries, namely the UAE, Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan.[/size]
[size=45]The report considered that such a step by the Biden administration may indicate that the US president's goal now is to build a regional alliance of US allies to contain Iran, and that his visit to Israel and Saudi Arabia, as well as his slip of words to journalists last month, indicate that the goal of the tour is related to security. .[/size]
[size=45]And about the step taken by the Iraqi parliament, prompted by the Sadrist movement, in late last May to criminalize normalization with Israel, the report considered that the best way to understand it is as a “response to the efforts made to expand the Ibrahim agreements, and Iraq’s refusal to be part of an anti-Iranian coalition.” .[/size]
[size=45]The report described Sadr's relations with both Iran and the United States as "complex." He also noted that most Shiite parties have long-standing ties to Iran, although the leaders of these forces often get angry at the pressure that Tehran exerts on them, but there are many deep social and religious ties between the two countries at the grassroots level, with millions of Iranian pilgrims visiting the shrines in Iraq. Annually, many Iraqis also visit the shrines in Iran.[/size]
[size=45]The report summarized the scene, saying that while the majority of Iraqi Shiites want to maintain a large degree of autonomy from Iran, it is not reasonable, given the cultural, religious and personal ties between the two countries, for a Shiite-led Iraq to turn its back on its Iranian neighbor.[/size]
[size=45]In this context, the report made it clear that it was not realistic for al-Sadr, despite his public criticism of Iran, to join a regional bloc led by the United States against it, adding that the Sadrists' desire might have been to distance Iraq from any American-Iranian confrontation, especially after Iraq became in the middle of the goal Iranian-Israeli fire when Tehran launched a missile strike on the Kurdistan region in retaliation for an alleged Israeli strike on an Iranian drone base.[/size]
[size=45]The report also mentioned that the Peace Communications Center in New York organized a conference in Erbil that called for normalization with Israel, noting that the conference turned into a “stalemate” as the majority of Iraqis, especially Sunni Arabs, declare their support for the Palestinian cause, and there is little apparent support for normalization. He pointed out that the conference was followed by a repudiation of many of the participants and the issuance of arrest warrants against some of the participants.[/size]
[size=45]The report also revealed exciting information that it described as the “most bizarre” of what happened, as the organizer of the event in Erbil, Joseph Proud, has a criminal history, an American of Iraqi Jewish descent, who was arrested at John F. Kennedy Airport in New York in June of the year 2003, and in possession of 4,000-year-old Iraqi antiquities, which were stolen from the Iraqi National Museum, and he pleaded guilty before a federal court in the United States on charges of smuggling.[/size]
[size=45]The report added that given the Iraqi Shiites' relations with Iran and the general Iraqi rapprochement with the Palestinian cause, Iraq appears as an unlikely candidate to join the Ibrahim agreements. At the same time, many Iraqis want their country to serve as a bridge that brings the parties together, recalling the attempt of Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kazemi. Al-Kazemi tried to supervise the Saudi-Iranian dialogue during the past 15 months, as many Iraqis believe that this situation is not good for the region alone. But for Iraq as well, because it contributes to preventing the renewal of sectarian tensions in their country.[/size]
[size=45]The report concluded by saying that the Biden administration, after being unable to reach an agreement with Iran to revive the nuclear agreement, seems ready to adopt a more confrontational policy with Iran, adding that in this situation, Iraq will be in a difficult position.[/size]
[size=45]The report stated that the Shiite parties have demonstrated that they will not join an anti-Iranian coalition, and that most of them, regardless of their relationship with Iran, still desire to establish positive relations with their Arab neighbors and believe their country has its rightful place in the Arab fold. He added that if a new regional polarization forces them to take sides between a regional alliance of Washington's leaders and Iran, it will be difficult for the Iraqis not to move towards Iran.[/size]
[size=45]He continued, saying that under such a scenario, the Kurdish and Sunni parties in Iraq will align themselves with the Shiite majority, as they did basically with regard to the anti-normalization law, or perhaps they will most likely find themselves in a situation of disagreement with the Shiites.[/size]
[size=45]The report concluded by saying that while Biden heads to the Middle East, he faces a dilemma, as he was primarily seeking to return to the nuclear agreement, but the greatly deteriorating expectations about this option are now pushing him towards the option of containing Iran, and it is clear that this path enjoys the support of many From the parties in Washington, in addition to Saudi Arabia and Israel, but the return to the policy of containment poses a threat to pull the components of Iraq in opposite directions, which could create serious consequences for the stability of Iraq, and it is not good news for the region.[/size]
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