Barzani: Americans should stay in Iraq
Iraqi Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani said in an interview that Erbil needs the continued presence of American soldiers and does not want them to leave. |
According to the report of the international group of Fars news agency, Masrour Barzani, the Prime Minister of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, told the American NBC channel that the nature of threats in the region has changed and Erbil needs the continued presence of American troops.
He added: “We need more American help, this does not mean we need more soldiers, but We need more help and facilities to increase the level of Peshmerga’s military capability so that we can defend not only our people but all those who live in the Kurdistan region”.
Barzani in He continued: “We need the support and continued presence of America and the international coalition, the nature of the threats has changed and we want more military, economic and political help, because the threats we are facing now are different from the threats of ISIS.”
Kurdistan Regional Prime Minister indirectly referring to the recent IRGC missile and drone attacks on the Mossad headquarters in this region, added: “As you know, we were subjected to missile and drone attacks a while ago and We didn’t have the necessary facilities to defend ourselves against these attacks, so when we say that we need more help from America, it does not mean that we need more soldiers”.
Claiming that the US military has contributed a lot to Iraq in the war against ISIS, he emphasized: “We have never demanded the withdrawal of American forces from Iraq.”
Naft of the Kurdistan Region [following the decision of the Supreme Court of Iraq] also said: “This issue has caused many problems at the same time as the lack of funding for the region, but Mr. Mohammad Shia al-Sudani has shown good faith and we hope that the problems will be resolved.” .
Barzani’s words and the emphasis on the continued presence of the American military are said to be in a situation where the assassination of the martyr “Abu Baqir al-Saadi” from the commanders of the Iraqi Hezbollah on Wednesday evening has doubled the anger of the Iraqis about the presence of the American military. and thousands of the mourners of this martyr chanted slogans against America and Israel yesterday in Najaf Ashraf. considered it a factor of instability and said: “More than ever, the Iraqi government is moving towards ending the mission of this coalition, which has become a factor of instability in Iraq and is dragging Iraq into conflict.”
Meanwhile, Baghdad’s talks with Washington about the future of the forces of the international anti-ISIS coalition in Iraq are supposed to resume tomorrow (Sunday).
Americans entered Iraq for the second time in 2014. Under this pretext, the United States sent 3,000 troops in the form of an international coalition against ISIS, 2,500 of whom were Americans. After the announcement of the victory over ISIS by Baghdad, the people and the government of Iraq emphasized the necessity of the withdrawal of foreign troops from the country. Soleimani, commander of the Quds Force of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, deputy head of the Iraqi Popular Mobilization Organization, were martyred. In response to this crime, the Iraqi parliament approved the plan to expel American soldiers from the country in January 2018.
publisher | Fars News |