The heavily fortified US embassy was attacked by three missiles, injuring a child and a woman, after the US defense system confronted it.
In this context, the headquarters of the Kurdistan Democratic Party, led by Massoud Barzani, and the “Progress” party headed by Parliament Speaker Muhammad al-Halbousi, in Baghdad, were attacked with grenades.
The leader of the Kurdistan Democratic Party, Mahdi Karim, survived an assassination attempt on the Army Canal highway, unhurt.
These attacks coincided with the agreement of the leader of the Sadrist movement, Muqtada al-Sadr, and al-Halbousi.
“triple agreement”
The “tripartite agreement” aims to grant the prime ministership to the Sadrist movement, and the parliament presidency, to the Taqaddam party, led by al-Halbousi, which happened during the first parliament session last Sunday, while the presidency of the republic will go to the candidate of the Democratic Party.
Political parties and armed factions threatened to take escalatory measures following this agreement, calling for it to be rescinded, as it splits the Shiite ranks.
Abu Ali al-Askari, a leader in the Hezbollah Brigades militia, said: “Voices were pure as they called for the return of rights to their people, and we were repeatedly warned of the danger of confiscating the right of the majority and following the external will.”
Al-Askari added: “According to field data and security assessments, difficult days will pass in Iraq in which everyone will lose.”
Iraqi observers saw that these threats aimed to intimidate opponents from allying with al-Sadr, especially since the attacks targeted the headquarters and cadres of parties that allied with al-Sadr only, and not others.
Experts in political affairs read these bombings as symbolic messages to the leader of the Sadrist movement Muqtada al-Sadr, and they may be just the beginning, and that other messages will be more powerful if al-Sadr thinks to move forward in forming a new government and distributing positions without taking into account the interests of parties and groups loyal to Iran, which Possesses strength, training, and various means of financial and organizational influence and external support.
Establishing a culture of violence
In this context, Ghazi Faisal, head of the Iraqi Center for Strategic Studies, says: “These attacks will perpetuate a culture of violence, non-statement and terrorism, and may lead Iraq towards inter-war wars.”
Faisal said in an interview with “Sky News Arabia” that these attacks “will enhance the poverty, misery and deprivation experienced by the Iraqi people, and all this is due to the policies of mafias, and the politics of uncontrolled weapons that do not observe international and local laws, and seek to reap personal gains, at the expense of Iraq’s situation, and its security.”
He added, “All these serious breaches and violations, and the rockets fired at the US embassy, and which threaten the country’s societal security, must be confronted,” noting that “these attacks are absurd, and it is the citizen who pays the price.”
The Iraqi expert pointed out that “the new political map in the country goes towards civil peace, ensuring development, and confronting the problems of poverty, illiteracy, unemployment, violence and terrorism, but there are forces that claim to be resistance, and under this name they practice murder and terrorism.”
Calls for calm
The leader of the Sadrist movement said, last Saturday: “There is no place for militias in Iraq, and everyone will support the army, police and security forces,” stressing the “necessity of forming a majority government, in which there is no place for sectarian and ethnic”, which was considered a clear message to the militias stating its content that they will not It continues in its current position as a larger force than the prime minister and the Iraqi state as a whole.
In the midst of this controversy, calls have emerged to calm the situation and move towards understandings and political consultations, with the aim of choosing the president of the republic, as well as the head of the next government.
The head of the Wisdom Movement, Ammar al-Hakim, called for those involved in the bombing of the embassy to be held accountable. He also warned of a scheme that would destabilize Iraq.
Al-Hakim said in a statement issued by him: “The targeting of the headquarters of parties and political forces warns of the existence of a dubious scheme to destabilize Iraq and threaten its security.”
He added, “While we strongly condemn and denounce these behaviors, we stress the need not to pass without holding those involved and those behind them accountable.”
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