Iraq: The American ambassador and the leader of the “Al-Hikma” movement agree that attacks against A

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[size=52]Iraq: The American ambassador and the leader of the “Al-Hikma” movement agree that attacks against America’s facilities must be stopped[/size]

[size=45]Yesterday, Thursday, the US Central Command announced that the “Ain al-Asad” air base in western Iraq was subjected to a new missile attack, without resulting in human or material damage, noting that the Iraqi security forces were providing the sites from which the attackers’ missiles were launched, while the US ambassador in Baghdad agreed. Elena Romanowski, with the leader of the “Al-Hikma” movement, Ammar Al-Hakim, stressed the need to stop the attacks targeting American facilities in Iraq.[/size]
[size=45]A statement by the US command stated that “at approximately 7:30 am Iraqi time on December 20, a 122 mm missile was launched at Al-Asad Air Base in Iraq,” indicating that “no injuries or damage occurred.”[/size]
[size=45]According to the statement, “The Joint Task Force - Operation Inherent Resolve identified the point of origin and transferred the location to the Iraqi security forces, who moved to the site to investigate,” stressing at the same time that “the international security forces (referring to the coalition forces) seized a modified flatbed truck to launch what Up to 5 x 122 mm were present at the site.”[/size]
[size=45]On the 11th of this month, a missile attack and another drone attack targeted two military bases in Iraq and Syria that include forces from the international coalition to combat the “Islamic State” organization, as a US military official told Reuters.[/size]
[size=45]The "Islamic Resistance in Iraq", which includes armed factions allied with Iran and linked to the "Popular Mobilization Forces", claimed responsibility for the two attacks.[/size]
[size=45]Meanwhile, the US Ambassador to Baghdad, Alina Romanowski, said that she agreed with the leader of the National Wisdom Movement, Ammar al-Hakim, on the need to stop attacks targeting US facilities in Iraq.[/size]
[size=45]The ambassador stated in her “blog” yesterday, “An important conversation took place yesterday (the first) with Al-Hakim and Acting US Deputy Secretary of State Victoria Nuland, where we agreed on the need to stop attacks on US facilities in Iraq, increase humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza, and maintain peace.” All over the region.”[/size]
[size=45]Al-Hakim had previously stressed during the meeting, according to a statement from his office, that “supporting the ongoing massacres constitutes a provocation to Muslims in general,” calling on the international community and the United States to “assume their responsibilities towards the ongoing genocide in Gaza,” stressing “a ceasefire and the introduction of... Aid, the return of the displaced, and the necessities of normal life.”[/size]
[size=45]These factions object to American support for Israel in its war against Gaza.[/size]
[size=45]“Political signals”[/size]
[size=45]This comes at a time when the American website Law Fair, which specializes in disputes and legal issues, believes that the attacks launched by the factions or what it calls “Iranian agents” on the American forces in Iraq and Syria are aimed at sending “political signals” to Washington. Although these forces “do not seek to create a major confrontation with the United States, the risks and challenges are still serious and great,” according to the website.[/size]
[size=45]After the report reviewed the attacks launched by Iranian-backed groups across the region, especially in Iraq and Syria, which it described as the most concerning to the United States, it said that Iran is using these attacks “to signal to the United States and Israel that it is capable of expanding the conflict.”[/size]
[size=45]He stated that by urging its proxies to launch attacks, Tehran also seeks to “preserve and strengthen its legitimacy among its proxies as the main opposition force to Israel and the United States in the region,” while the “proxies” benefit from these attacks in order to “achieve their independent political goals, such as Expel American forces from the region.[/size]
[size=45]According to the report, this is not the first time that Iranian-backed attacks on American facilities in Iraq and Syria have been used to send political signals, pointing to April 2021, when a series of attacks occurred on logistical convoys and the Balad air base in the period preceding the dialogue meeting. Strategy between the United States and Iraq.
Also in December 2018, an attack occurred one day after then-US President Donald Trump visited the US Al-Asad Air Base.[/size]
[size=45]Also, there have been similar attacks in the past five years, and they were deliberately limited in terms of the number of deaths and were primarily aimed at sending political signals, so as not to require a major American response.[/size]
[size=45]He pointed out that the recent attacks, which exceeded 100 attacks on American forces in Iraq and Syria, although they have limited impact and are political in nature, they appear to be more continuous than previous political message strikes. In the past, American air strikes deterred further attacks, but the strikes America did not achieve this this time.[/size]
[size=45]A message of solidarity[/size]
[size=45]While the report considered that the root cause of the recent increase in attacks was the war in Gaza, it said that this general message of “solidarity with the Palestinians” raises a lot of ambiguity regarding Iran’s political goals and the goals of its agents.[/size]
[size=45]It appears that there are “two goals that support Iran’s relationship with the strikes: giving a signal to Washington of its regional power and its ability to expand the conflict, and indicating its control over the militias it supports,” recalling the statement of Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian before the United Nations that the United States: “will not survive this crisis.” Fire” if Israeli military operations in Gaza continue, statements echoed by the commander of the Iranian Quds Force, Brigadier General Ismail Qaani, while Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei said, during an official visit to the Iraqi Prime Minister in Tehran, that Iran and Iraq need to cooperate to put political pressure on the United States. And Israel.[/size]
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