The Iraqi Foreign Ministry said Thursday it had summoned the US ambassador to Baghdad and that it would hand him a memo protesting President Donald Trump's decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital.
Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said on Tuesday that Iraq is opposed to the US move, warning that such a decision would negatively affect Middle East stability.
"The Iraqi government received this news with the utmost worry and warns about this decision's ramifications on the stability of the region and the world," the Iraqi cabinet said in a statement.
A source close to top cleric Ali Sistani "denounced and condemned the American decision that injures the feelings of hundreds of millions of Arabs and Muslims."
"This will not change the fact that Jerusalem is an occupied territory that needs to be returned to its legitimate Palestinian owners," the source said.
“The decision by Trump on Al-Quds (Jerusalem) makes it legitimate to strike the American forces in Iraq," Al-Nojaba chief Akram al-Kaabi said in a statement.
The group, established in 2013 and supported by Iran's Revolutionary Guards, numbers around 1,500 fighters and is part of the Popular Mobilization Forces.
The US has thousands of troops stationed in Iraq to help in the fight against ISIS.
