The Iranian consulate incident in Syria threatens to collapse the factional truce in Iraq

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[size=52]The Iranian consulate incident in Syria threatens to collapse the factional truce in Iraq[/size]

[size=45]Baghdad/ Tamim Al-Hassan[/size]
[size=45]More than 6,000 km separate Baghdad from the site of the attack that targeted an Iranian diplomatic building in Syria the day before yesterday evening, but concern in Iraq is great.[/size]
[size=45]Politicians and analysts expect that Iraqi lands will be used again in the war between Tehran on the one hand and Tel Aviv and Washington on the other hand.[/size]
[size=45]Hours after the incident, Baghdad was quick to “condemn the attack,” while an armed faction announced that it was preparing 12,000 fighters to enter a war with Israel.[/size]
[size=45]Iranian President Ibrahim Raisi confirmed that the strikes that targeted the Iranian consulate in Damascus and led to the killing of seven members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard on Monday “will not go unanswered.”[/size]
[size=45]The American website Axios, quoting an American official, reported on Tuesday that the United States “informed Iran that it had no role or prior knowledge” of the strike that targeted the Iranian consulate in Syria.[/size]
[size=45]But the same website quoted other American and Israeli officials as saying that Tel Aviv informed President Joe Biden's administration of the strike that killed the commander of the Quds Force in Syria and Lebanon, Mohammad Reza Zahedi, in Damascus a few minutes before it was carried out.[/size]
[size=45]They added that Israel only informed Washington of the attack, and did not ask the United States for a “green light” to carry out the strike.[/size]
[size=45]Iran's ambassador to Syria, Hussein Akbari, said that a military strike, suspected to be Israeli, hit a consulate building in the embassy complex in Damascus on Monday.[/size]
[size=45]The Iranian Revolutionary Guard said in a statement that the bombing left seven military advisors dead, including Mohammad Reza Zahedi, the senior commander of the Quds Force, the foreign arm of the Revolutionary Guard.[/size]
[size=45]Tehran held Israel responsible for the consequences of the attack, while Hossein Akbari said that his country would “respond decisively.”[/size]
[size=45]In addition, the Iraqi Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed its condemnation of the targeting of the Iranian diplomatic mission in the Syrian capital, Damascus.[/size]
[size=45]The Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated in a statement that “this attack represents a clear and flagrant violation of international law and Syrian sovereignty and warns of the danger of compromising the security of diplomatic missions that have diplomatic immunity under international laws,” noting that “the expansion of the circle of violence in the region will lead to more chaos and instability.”[/size]
[size=45]The Ministry once again called on the international community to “take urgent action to stop the killing and destruction in the Gaza Strip and the continued targeting of Syrian territory.”[/size]
[size=45]The involvement of the so-called “Iraqi resistance” in the Gaza war last year led to the killing of a number of Hashd fighters in American retaliatory raids, and two faction leaders in attacks in central Baghdad.[/size]
[size=45]Mithal Al-Alusi, the former MP, said in an interview with Al-Mada: “We must expect a major escalation and Israeli targeting of Iranian targets inside Iraq,” indicating that “the government and the coordination framework know about this.”[/size]
[size=45]He added, “Yesterday, parties in the Shiite coalition sent messages to a Western country to avoid Iraq being involved in new attacks that might occur because of what is happening between Iran and Israel.”[/size]
[size=45]These developments come at a time when Prime Minister Muhammad al-Sudani is expected to visit the White House in mid-April, in the first visit by an Iraqi prime minister to the United States from the PMF team.[/size]
[size=45]Western reports covered information about American hints about the possibility of “cancelling the visit” if American forces in Iraq were attacked due to the consulate incident.[/size]
[size=45]Al-Alusi, a former member of the Foreign Relations Committee in Parliament, says: “I advise the prime minister to control the situation at home and remove those who want to turn Iraq into a war zone, and not to postpone his visit to Washington.”[/size]
[size=45]Iraqi factions began to escalate, as the Hezbollah Brigades in Iraq confirmed that they had equipped thousands of “Jordanian fighters” with weapons and missiles, in the first response to the Iranian consulate incident.[/size]
[size=45]The Phalange’s security official, Abu Ali Al-Askari, said in a post on his Telegram channel, “The Islamic resistance in Iraq has prepared its equipment to equip the Islamic resistance in Jordan to meet the needs of 12,000 fighters with light and medium weapons, anti-armour launchers, tactical missiles, millions of ammunition, and tons of explosives.” Let us be one hand to defend our Palestinian brothers.”[/size]
[size=45]He added, “We are ready to begin preparations, and that is enough from Hamas or Islamic Jihad. Let us begin first by cutting off the land road that reaches the Zionist entity.”[/size]
[size=45]It is believed that these statements may violate the “implicit” truce between the factions and the United States that began last February.[/size]
[size=45]Ahmed Al-Yasiri, a political analyst based in Australia, told Al-Mada: “The Israeli targeting is specific this time, and Tehran’s responses so far appear to be taking diplomatic methods.”[/size]
[size=45]General Mohammad Reza Zahedi, who died in the consulate attack, is the most prominent commander in the Revolutionary Guard to be killed after Qassem Soleimani, and the third commander since the Gaza War.[/size]
[size=45]Zahedi has commanded the Quds Force forces in Lebanon since 2008, and has been included on the US sanctions list since 2010.[/size]
[size=45]Al-Yasiri believes that the Iranian reaction to the moment with the incident does not represent a direct threat to Iraq, “but the opposite may happen if the Revolutionary Guard decides to ignite the region (Iraq and Syria) again.”[/size]
[size=45]In the last two months, the Revolutionary Guards reduced attacks in Iraq and Syria to protect Hezbollah in Lebanon, in exchange for an escalation in the Red Sea to remove the danger from Iran and preoccupy Western countries, according to what Al-Yasiri says.[/size]
[size=45]He adds: “The Revolutionary Guard sometimes acts in isolation from the approach of the Iranian government, which sees what is happening so far as a violation of sovereignty.”[/size]
[size=45]Al-Yasiri explains, “But if the Revolutionary Guard responds and America is forced to intervene, then Iraq will be affected,” especially since this happens with the possibility of Israel carrying out an operation in Rafah.[/size]
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