Iraqi congratulations and divided positions.. What after Trump's victory?

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[size=52]Iraqi congratulations and divided positions.. What after Trump's victory?[/size]

[size=45]Iraq has witnessed a division in the declared positions towards the victory of US President-elect Donald Trump, who is facing a series of lawsuits in Iraq related to his responsibility for the assassination of former Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani and Deputy Chairman of the Popular Mobilization Authority Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis in early January 2020, amid expectations that there will be no change in his new term towards Iraq.
Over the period following the US elections, Iraqi political forces allied with Iran adopted positions warning against Trump’s return to power, and that he will use a more stringent policy; including the economic sanctions card on Iraq to pressure him.
Politically and security-wise, the first term of President Donald Trump can be considered a major turning point in the relationship between Washington and Baghdad, which was characterized after the US invasion in 2003 and the overthrow of the former Iraqi regime, by open support for the political process and the extension of the influence of the Iraqi authority, as Iraq witnessed the first US military operations against armed groups allied with Iran at the end of 2019, after US operations in Iraq were limited to armed groups such as Al-Qaeda and ISIS.
Washington launched a series of airstrikes that caused significant human and material losses among Iraqi factions, most notably the Qaim attack at the end of 2019, the assassination of Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani, and Popular Mobilization Forces leader Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis in January 2020, and then a series of airstrikes against leaders of the same factions, who it says are responsible for attacking American bases in Iraq and Syria.
The official Iraqi position differed from the Iranian-backed political and factional position, between offering congratulations and declaring readiness for joint cooperation, and denouncing such congratulations by Iraqi officials, and warning against adopting positions more supportive of the Israeli occupation than the administration of President Joe Biden.
Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, President Abdul Latif Rashid, and President of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq Nechirvan Barzani all sent official congratulatory telegrams, stressing in phrases that seemed similar in content the importance of cooperation and strengthening relations, without ignoring the situation in the region and calling on Washington to play a positive role in it.
However, a member of the Parliament’s Foreign Relations Committee, Mukhtar al-Moussawi, said that “according to Iraqi law, Trump is a criminal and wanted by the judiciary, but Iraq will deal with him normally, as this is in Iraq’s interest, and Trump’s arrival to the White House will not affect relations between Baghdad and Washington.”
Al-Moussawi stressed in statements to reporters that “Trump does not recognize the Iraqi government and does not respect the authorities in Iraq,” noting that “his visit to Iraq during his previous term was limited to visiting his soldiers at the Ain al-Assad base in Anbar Governorate.”
For his part, Ibrahim al-Sakini, a member of the “State of Law” coalition led by Nouri al-Maliki, denounced this, saying that “Trump is wanted for a crime in Iraq, and it is illogical to deal with him normally,” considering “the government’s position of congratulating Trump as a disregard for the blood of the leaders of victory (Qassem Soleimani and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis) and contrary to the wishes of the Iraqi people who are angry with the US administration,” according to him.
Al-Sakini stressed in a press statement that “Trump is an undesirable person,” calling on the political blocs and the country’s ruling coalition to “determine their position and next steps towards this person.”
Commenting on Trump’s return to the White House, Abbas al-Zaidi, a leader in the “Sayyid al-Shuhada Brigades,” the most prominent Iraqi faction, considered that there is no difference between Trump and his predecessor regarding the US policy towards the Israeli occupation and its support. He stated in press statements that “the issue of US escalation against Iraq in the coming period depends on Israel’s approval and orientations.”
However, Ali al-Wandi, a member of the “Loyal Ansar Allah” group, said that they do not expect a better situation in the next four years. He added in a phone call that “Trump’s policy in his previous term will not change in his new term, and we believe that he will pressure Iraq with sanctions, and it is not unlikely that he will resume the series of targeting leaders of the Islamic resistance in Iraq as well.” He described the official congratulations offered to him by Iraqi officials as “an assault on the judiciary that issued an arrest warrant against him.”
In addition, the head of the Iraqi Center for Political Thought, Ihsan Al-Shammari, did not express any optimism about Trump’s position on what he called “Iran’s allies in Iraq,” and said in a post on “X,” “With Trump’s victory, there is no gray area for Iran’s allies in Iraq. The maneuver and the game of exchanging roles have ended.”[/size]
[size=45]Iraqi political forces, as well as armed factions, criticized Trump's visit to the US Ain al-Assad base in western Iraq in 2018, during which he confirmed the possibility of launching US attacks on Syria from Iraqi territory.
In early 2021, the Iraqi judiciary issued an arrest warrant for Trump on charges of assassinating Soleimani and al-Muhandis.
Iraq and Washington are awaiting major joint action, especially as the factions are waiting for the end of the international coalition's mission in the country. Baghdad and Washington have finally reached an official date for the end of the mission, not exceeding 12 months, after months of dialogue between the two sides following escalating demands to end its presence by armed factions and Iraqi forces allied with Iran, following US strikes on faction headquarters in Iraq in response to their attacks on its bases inside and outside the country.[/size]
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