Iraqi parliament re-elects speaker Al-Halbousi
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The Iraqi parliament re-elects House Speaker Mohammad Al-Halbousi after 222 MPs out of 329 MPs refused to vote "yes" on his resignation.
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Iraqi parliament speaker Mohammad Al-Halbousi
The Iraqi parliament voted on Wednesday to grant its confidence to House Speaker Mohammad Al-Halbousi after the majority of MPs refused to agree to his resignation.
The vote "renewed the confidence in Parliament Speaker Mohammad Al-Halbousi, with 222 members of parliament rejecting his resignation," the Iraqi parliament said in a statement.
مجلس النواب يصوِّت على تجديد الثقة برئيس مجلس النواب @AlHaLboosii بـتصويت 222 نائبا على رفض الاستقالة.
— المكتب الاعلامي لرئيس مجلس النواب 🇮🇶 (@mediaofspeaker) September 28, 2022
-العدد الكلي للمصوتين 235 نائبا
-عدد الموافقين على الاستقالة 13 نائبا pic.twitter.com/s9k6zBUhFI
The total amount of voters was 235 MPs, and the number of those that accepted Al-Hablousi's resignation was 13 MPs, the Parliament revealed. The Iraqi House of Representatives has 329 seats.
Iraqis took to the streets in Baghdad earlier in the day in protest of the parliament session, though they were dispersed by the Iraqi Security Forces.
Al-Halbousi had called earlier this month for a date for early parliamentary elections to be included on the agenda of the national dialogue session and the election of the provincial councils no later than the end of next year.
Al Mayadeen's correspondent in Baghdad said Monday that Al-Halbousi's resignation would be rejected during Wednesday's Parliament session, and confidence in him would be renewed.
Mohamed Al-Halbousi revealed that he was considering the resignation, but he did not discuss it with anyone, stressing the need for relations between political forces to be normal.
Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi said his country is going through a "political crisis that may be the most difficult after 2003," according to the Iraqi News Agency.
Al-Kadhimi also thanked Iraq's security forces who are "still deployed throughout Iraq to pursue terrorists while providing at the same time protection for pilgrims."
The head of the Supreme Judicial Council in Iraq, Faiq Zaidan, called on September 10 for a review of the drafting of the articles of the constitution that caused the political impasse in the country against the background of the Sadrist movement’s demand to dissolve parliament and the coordination framework's insistence to form a government first.
The Federal Supreme Court of Iraq rejected on September 7 the lawsuit submitted by a number of leaders of the Sadrist movement calling for the dissolution of the House of Representatives, citing that dissolving the Council was not within its jurisdiction.
Late last month, the supporters of the Sadrist movement in Iraq stormed the government palace, and the riot police were trying to get the situation under control.
Hundreds of the Sadrist movement's followers broke into Baghdad’s green zone shortly after the movement's leader, Muqtada Al-Sadr, announced his retirement from politics.
Iraq condemns Iran operation in Kurdistan region
The Iraqi foreign ministry condemned Iran's operations in the Kurdistan region, which targeted four areas within the Iraqi region using precision-guided missiles and offensive UAVs.
This is "a dangerous development that jeopardizes Iraq's security and sovereignty and stokes fear among civilians."
"These provocative, unilateral actions are complicating the security situation and casting its shadows on the region, and it will only cause tension," Baghdad's top diplomatic body added.
The ministry stressed that it was closely following up on the latest developments, renewing the Iraqi government's rejection of the use of "any military doctrine to face security challenges."
The Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC) announced it conducted on Saturday an anti-terrorist operation in the northern Iraqi Kurdistan region in light of terrorists causing unrest and riots in cities along the Western Iranian borders.
The IRGC Ground Force conducted its operation against the Komala and Kurdistan Democratic Party terrorist groups after the groups illegally sent armed individuals to Iranian cities over the past few days.
"The Iranian forces have shown decisive response to recent days' aggression by the anti-revolution terrorist groups against borderlines and a number of border bases," the IRGC said in a statement on Saturday.
The Iranian forces said that Tehran had several times on various occasions warned the officials of the Iraqi Kurdistan region about terrorist groups and their activities in the northern region. However, according to the IRGC, the local authorities failed to take proper measures to curb terrorist activity.
The border guards of the East Azerbaijan province announced Friday the arrest of a terrorist cell, including two elements who were planning to carry out sabotage operations inside the country, and in possession of a quantity of weapons and ammunition.
The Iranian police published CCTV footage documenting the last moments of Mahsa Amini at the police station. The Tehran police said the footage proved that the 22-year-old was not subjected to any violence or physical abuse.
Iranians rallied in support of the Islamic Republic, opposing chaos that has been spiraling under the pretense of solidarity with Mahsa Amini's family following her death.
