Calls for Dissolution of Iraqi Popular Forces Sign of New Plot: Iran

Reacting to Macron’s call, Iraq’s vice president and former prime minister, Nouri al-Maliki, said in a Facebook post that “Emmanuel Macron interfered unexpectedly in Iraq’s internal affairs by calling for the dismantling of a legal institution, Hashd al-Sha’abi.”

Hashd al-Sha’abi is a group of Shia and Sunni fighters that was formed after the emergence of Daesh in Iraq in 2014. In the early days of the Daesh terror campaign, the then volunteer fighters played a major role in reinforcing the Iraqi army, which had suffered heavy setbacks in the face of lightning advances by the terrorists.

The senior Iranian official also pointed to the collapse of Daesh Takfiri terrorists in Iraq and said resistance of the Iraqi people and acts of great bravery by the country’s army and security forces, particularly the PMU fighters, led to the collapse of the “biggest threat to the region.”

The United States and Israeli regime are creating and spearheading an important part of regional crises with the purpose of protecting the Tel Aviv regime’s security and selling more arms, Shamkhani added.

He emphasized that national unity and solidarity in Iraq would guarantee the country’s stability and security and serve the interests of all ethnic groups.

“Close cooperation among all countries victimized by terrorism in the region in order to counter terrorism on military, security and cultural fronts is an inevitable necessity and a deterrent factor preventing the re-emergence of terrorism,” Shamkhani pointed out.

Hamoudi, for his part, commended Iran’s great role in the fight against terrorist groups in Iraq and across the Middle East.

Iraq has managed to gain major victories despite economic and security problems, he said, adding that the country would continue this path in cooperation with its true allies.