Iraqi PM rejects, slams Israeli threats to expand war to Iraq
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Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammad Shia al-Sudani reiterates Iraq's commitment to defend the people of Lebanon and Palestine, following threats made by 'Israel' to attack Iraq.
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Iraq's Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani attends a ceremony in Baghdad, Iraq, January 9, 2024 (AP)
Iraq’s Prime Minister Mohammad Shia al-Sudani slammed a letter sent from "Israel" to the Security Council as "efforts to expand the war", affirming that it "represents a pretext and argument to attack Iraq, and to achieve the entity's ongoing efforts to expand the war in the region."
"Iraq rejects these threats, the decision of war and peace is a decision in the hands of the Iraqi state, and no party is allowed to confiscate this right. Iraq rejects entering into war, in addition to its steadfastness in the principled position to end the war and seeking to provide relief to the Palestinian and Lebanese peoples," he stated.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar addressed the President of the United Nations Security Council, Barbara Woodward, pleading for the intervention of the international community to stop the military operations carried out by the Islamic Resistance in Iraq against the Israeli occupation.
According to the letter, Sa'ar relayed "Israel's" grave concerns regarding the increasing intensity of the Iraqi Resistance's operations, claiming they violated international law and risked dragging the region into further escalation and violence.
It is worth noting that the Islamic Resistance in Iraq launched its military campaign to support the people in Gaza, and later Lebanon, as the Israeli occupation intensified its genocidal war in Gaza and expanded its aggression to Lebanon. The Iraqi Resistance has been targeting Israeli military assets in occupied Palestine, recently escalating its operations as "Israel" resumes its aggression.
Sa'ar further urged the Iraqi government to take immediate action to halt the operations, alleging that "Israel" has the right to respond, a pretext and code for the expansion of the regional war to Iraq.
"The Iraqi government is responsible for everything that happens on its territory and that Israel has the right to self-defense, as enshrined in the UN Charter, to protect itself and its citizens," the letter read.
In all-out war, US forces are Iraqi Resistance hostages
On 16 November, Iraq's State of Law Coalition disclosed that the US is exerting "strong pressure" on Israel to avoid responding to ongoing resistance operations in Iraq.
Saad al-Muttalibi, a senior coalition member, explained to Shafaq News that the United States is pressuring the Israeli entity not to launch any strikes on Iraq out of concern for Baghdad-Washington relations, particularly given the existence of a joint security agreement between the two nations.
It is worth noting that Iraq had warned that if a full-scale war erupts, US forces and assets "will become hostages to the Resistance factions in Iraq," adding that the Resistance's capabilities will reach their bases in the Gulf region and beyond, according to Abu Alaa al-Walaei, the Secretary-General of Iraqi Kataib Sayyed al-Shuhada.
The Iraqi leader expressed full solidarity with the Resistance peoples in Gaza, Lebanon, and Yemen against the "most savage barbaric" assault carried out by "Israel", backed and shielded by the United States.
The Resistance will continue this battle till the end unless the Israeli-American aggression against Gaza and Lebanon ceases, al-Walaei vowed.
He emphasized that throughout the years of confrontation with the Israeli-American enemy, the Iraqi Resistance has offered a handful of martyrs and achieved many victories, underlining that in this battle, a "great victory" will be achieved for the Ummah and all the free people of the world.
"No matter how hard the Zionist-American enemy tries to break the unity of the battlefield, we will remain committed to this principle, which has dismantled the security deterrence doctrine of the occupying entity," he stressed.
"We drove the Americans out of Iraq, humiliated and defeated, after ten years of fighting, and we will drive them out once again from Iraq, Syria, and West Asia."
