Hours after the Federal Court approved Al-Halbousi’s re-election at the head of the legislative body, 3 Katyusha rockets landed near his home in the Karma district of Anbar Governorate, west of Baghdad, which resulted in the injury of two children.
The elections held in Iraq, on October 10, resulted in the victory of the Sadrist movement led by Muqtada al-Sadr, by obtaining 73 seats, a number more than any other faction obtained in the Council, which includes 329 seats.
Al-Sadr allied himself with the Progress and Azm blocs and the Kurdistan Democratic Alliance, bringing the bloc to more than 163 deputies, which means the possibility of passing the government without the need for other blocs, which infuriated the pro-Iranian militias that were expelled.
On January 9, Al-Halbousi, the leader of the “Progress” coalition (37 seats), was re-elected as Speaker of Parliament for the second time in a row, as he had chaired the previous parliament since 2018, while the losing Shiite forces challenged the session and threatened to escalate.
In recent days, successive attacks have targeted the presidential district in Baghdad and military bases as well as party headquarters of the coalition that will form the government, in addition to targeting security personnel and private and public institutions.
Missile messages
Regarding the goals behind targeting Al-Halbousi, the Iraqi academic, Wissam Al-Obaidi, said that the forces of the coordination framework, which suffered a humiliating loss in the elections, are working to besiege Al-Sadr through missile messages to block the path of a national majority government, for fear of losing its influence.
Al-Obaidi added, in statements to “Sky News Arabia”, that Iraq “is on the verge of a major escalation by Iran’s proxies who do not care about the internal situation or the interests of Iraq, which is trying to rise from successive setbacks.”
He pointed out that the “ISIS” organization is the biggest beneficiary of the current reality and the ongoing disputes between politicians, which was clearly demonstrated through the many attacks that affected all parts of Iraq, the most recent of which was the Diyala massacre, which killed 11 soldiers.
For his part, the Iraqi analyst, Hashem Abdul-Karim, said that the militias loyal to Iran “know only the language of violence and terrorism in achieving their goals, and what is happening are messages with the taste of fire and blood that the accounts of the funds are one thing and the reality on the ground is another.”
He continued, “The militias’ policy is always based on threatening the state and its institutions when they are exposed to any action contrary to their foreign agenda,” stressing that the attacks in Iraq in recent days are “a means of pressure to prove that there are more cards that can be played, and it is a traditional method by doing limited actions to prove the existence of a potential excess power of the opponents.
He pointed out that Al-Sadr’s pursuit of forming a national majority government will push the other party to escalate to dissuade him in order to preserve their gains and privileges, as well as for fear of opening thorny files and holding them accountable for the crimes of the past years.
Terrorist act
The Iraqi President, Barham Salih, described the attack on the headquarters of the Iraqi parliament speaker as an act of terrorism, while the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) considered it an attempt to create chaos.
Saleh said in a tweet via his Twitter account: “The attack on the headquarters of the Speaker of Parliament in Anbar, which resulted in the injury of civilians, is a deplorable terrorist act and its timing targets national and constitutional entitlements.”
He called for national unity and solidarity to protect civil peace and prevent stalkers, and to continue the path towards forming an Iraqi government that protects the higher interests of the country and responds to the aspirations of the Iraqi people.
In turn, the United Nations mission condemned, in a statement, the missile attack that targeted al-Halbousi’s headquarters, saying: “We condemn the missile attack near the residence of Parliament Speaker Muhammad al-Halbousi in Anbar, which resulted in the injury of a number of civilians. This is a cowardly attempt to create chaos. We urge the authorities to Intensify efforts to prevent such acts and apprehend the perpetrators.
No alliance with al-Maliki
Al-Sadr made his decision on Tuesday, stressing that he would not ally with former Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, explaining: “I informed Al-Amiri and Al-Fayyad of my refusal to ally with Al-Maliki,” referring to Hadi Al-Amiri, leader of the “Al-Fateh” alliance, and Faleh Al-Fayyad, head of the Popular Mobilization Forces.
In a tweet, Al-Sadr welcomed the judiciary’s decision to establish the legitimacy of the first parliament session, saying: “We are moving forward with forming a national majority government.”