Waiting for the white smoke of tenderness... Al-Sadr tweets about closing the American embassy!

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[size=52]Waiting for the white smoke of tenderness... Al-Sadr tweets about closing the American embassy![/size]

[size=45]Baghdad/ Tamim Al-Hassan
[size=45]It seems that the representatives who recently collected signatures to expel the American ambassador from Iraq are in one valley and the parliament is in another. According to parliamentarians, the issue of closing the embassy “is not up for discussion” yet, and the Council has no legal authority regarding diplomatic missions.[/size]
[size=45]Representatives, most of whom were not members of the coordination framework, had collected signatures in line with the call of Muqtada al-Sadr, the leader of the movement, to close the Washington embassy in Baghdad.[/size]
[size=45]On the other hand, Al-Sadr himself seems to be awaiting the reactions of the government and its allies within the Shiite framework, despite the passage of 6 days since his call.[/size]
[size=45]Yesterday, Al-Sadr published a tweet about the situation in Gaza, which did not contain any indications - as expected - about the next step if his request was rejected.[/size]
[size=45]The government considered the closure of the American embassy “a destruction of Iraq,” according to a media statement by government spokesman Bassem Al-Awadi on a television program.[/size]
[size=45]Those close to the movement in Al-Hanana, Al-Sadr’s stronghold in Najaf, told Al-Mada that “there are still no instructions regarding the next steps to close the embassy.”[/size]
[size=45]But those close to them point out that “Mr. Muqtada al-Sadr will choose the appropriate time to act if his request continues to be ignored.”[/size]
[size=45]According to what is leaked and what is being said within the Shiite community, the leader of the movement may choose a time close to the elections to take action.[/size]
[size=45]Yesterday, the promotional campaign for the local elections, which are supposed to be held on December 18, was launched.[/size]
[size=45]Al-Sadr said in a tweet yesterday, “The Palestinian resistance achieved a truly brilliant victory,” while he was expected to issue instructions to his supporters regarding his latest position on closing the embassy.[/size]
[size=45]Last Friday, the leader of the movement called for the closure of the American embassy in Baghdad in protest against “unlimited American support for Israel in its war on Gaza.”[/size]
[size=45]Al-Sadr expressed his hope that the government and parliament would respond, adding that he would take another action if his demand was not met.[/size]
[size=45]So far, the Shiite coordination framework has not reacted to Al-Sadr’s call, while the coalition’s fans began demanding that the latter not intervene for fear of repeating the scenario of storming the American embassy in 2020.[/size]
[size=45]The recent raid cost the “Frame,” as they put it, the assassination of Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis (deputy head of the PMF) and Iranian General Qassem Soleimani, and placing faction leaders on the sanctions list. Political analysts close to the coordination framework also warned, in talk shows, against the step of severing relations with America, “because it has everything in its hand,” as they described it. This speech prompted Al-Sadr’s fans to ridicule the statements of the “frameworkers” on social media platforms, asking, “Where were these opinions when you were bombing the embassy?!”[/size]
[size=45]As for the government, it had chosen a channel affiliated with Asaib Ahl al-Haq led by Qais Khazali, who is known for his feud with the movement, instead of the official channel to announce its position on the embassy issue.[/size]
[size=45]Government spokesman Basem Al-Awadi said on Al-Asa’ib TV, “A decision such as closing the American embassy will not only affect the strategic framework agreement, but will lead to the destruction of Iraq because of the importance of the American embassy in the international presence in Iraq.”[/size]
[size=45]So far, only some representatives, most of whom are affiliated with independent and small forces in Parliament, have responded to Al-Sadr's demands to collect signatures to close the embassy.[/size]
[size=45]Arif Al-Hamami, a member of the Parliament’s Legal Committee, told Al-Mada: “Parliament has no legal authority to close embassies. This is an issue within the government’s prerogatives.”[/size]
[size=45]Al-Hamami recalls Iraq’s recent closure of the Swedish embassy after the building was burned by Al-Sadr’s supporters, and he said, “The government did not consult Parliament regarding this decision.”[/size]
[size=45]He added, "The government took this decision for popular reasons, but in return it pledged that it would repair the damaged building."[/size]
[size=45]The government spokesman said on Al-Asa’ib TV, “The decision taken by the government to close the Swedish embassy in Iraq led to international concern, as we received demands from various embassies that diplomatic missions must be protected from repeated attacks on them.”[/size]
[size=45]Last July, the Sadrists burned the Swedish embassy in central Baghdad, after the Iraqi refugee in Sweden, Silwan Mumika, burned a copy of the Qur’an, before the embassy was completely closed.[/size]
[size=45]Returning to Parliament, Al-Hamami, a representative of the State of Law, points out that the government is the one preparing a study regarding diplomatic missions, and whether closing the embassy will have diplomatic consequences.[/size]
[size=45]He continues, “Closing the American embassy is not up for discussion in Parliament yet, and it is a precedent that has never happened before, and the presidency of the Council is the one who decides whether to present the issue for discussion or not.”[/size]
[size=45]Al-Hamami believes that any decision from Parliament in this regard will likely be a “non-binding recommendation to the government,” because a decision that violates the law “is weak and non-binding.”[/size]
[size=45]The representative points to Parliament’s decision in 2020 to remove American forces, and says, “It is a decision that has not been implemented yet.”[/size]
[size=45]The escalation operations against US bases in Iraq and Syria, which were carried out by Iraqi factions, increased the crisis in the Shiite alliance.[/size]
[size=45]Today, 19 days have passed since the last meeting of the coordination framework, despite the rapid developments and the demands of some leaders, such as Hadi Al-Amiri, to withdraw the coalition forces.[/size]
[size=45]Ghazi Faisal, director of the Iraqi Center for Strategic Studies, attributes what is happening within the political scene to be a natural state of the accumulation of differences and fragmentation between parties that has continued since 2003.[/size]
[size=45]Faisal said in an interview with Al Mada: “Since 2006, in the first elected government, these differences have affected the distribution of power and gains and the characterization of regional and international relations between political forces.”[/size]
[size=45]He added, “There is a clear contradiction between the Dawa Party and the Sadrist movement. It is a disagreement that is increasing, deepening, and taking on multiple manifestations in mutual violence and political positions.”[/size]
[size=45]What made the situation worse was the subsequent emergence of armed factions, which Faisal says “operate in a manner and with goals far from the state and the constitution.”[/size]
[size=45]He continues, “These groups are strongly present on the ground and oppose the government’s policy in its moderate discourse and relations with countries and implement an Iranian agenda.”[/size]
[size=45]Faisal believes that the war in Gaza helped make these differences more clear, and placed the civil constitutional authorities in a dilemma before the violent radical forces.[/size]
Disclaime[/size]
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