Leader of Iraq’s Liwaa Ansar al-Marjaia Slams ‘Iran’s Agents’

Liwaa Ansar al-Marjaia leader, Hameed al-Yasiri.
Liwaa Ansar al-Marjaia leader, Hameed al-Yasiri.
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Leader of Iraq’s Liwaa Ansar al-Marjaia Slams ‘Iran’s Agents’

Liwaa Ansar al-Marjaia leader, Hameed al-Yasiri.
Liwaa Ansar al-Marjaia leader, Hameed al-Yasiri.

Leader of Liwaa Ansar al-Marjaia faction, Hameed al-Yasiri accused on Sunday Iraq’s Iran loyalists of committing “grand treason.”

Speaking at an Ashura commemoration in the southern city of al-Ramtha, he declared: “Those who are loyal to sides other than the nation are committing grand treason”

“This is great deception. This is what Imam al-Hussein taught us,” he added.

He did not specifically name any side, but was widely understood to be referring to pro-Iran factions.

“Those who take orders from beyond the borders… this is not the doctrine of Imam al-Hussein,” he continued.

Yasiri said he was aware of the danger he would face after making his divisive statements.

“I am aware that some sides are recording these words and sending them to their masters, who will in turn send them to their masters beyond the borders. Someone from the outside will decree my killing or yours on charges of doubting loyalties,” he remarked.

Yasiri’s remarks are unprecedented even though tensions between the various Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) in Iraq are common. The factions are divided between those loyal to the religious authority based in Najaf city and others loyal to Iran. Yasiri’s faction belongs to the former camp.

Qais Khazali, head of the pro-Iran Asa’ib Ahl al-Haq, dismissed Yasiri’s remarks as “trivial”

“It is shocking that such trivialities could be uttered by a cleric from an Imam al-Hussein platform in a city such as al-Ramtha, whose people are diligent and cultured,” he added.



Israel Says Rockets Fired from Syria for the First Time Since Bashar Assad’s Fall 

An Israeli military vehicle is seen near the border between the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights and Syria, May 4, 2025. (Reuters)
An Israeli military vehicle is seen near the border between the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights and Syria, May 4, 2025. (Reuters)
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Israel Says Rockets Fired from Syria for the First Time Since Bashar Assad’s Fall 

An Israeli military vehicle is seen near the border between the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights and Syria, May 4, 2025. (Reuters)
An Israeli military vehicle is seen near the border between the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights and Syria, May 4, 2025. (Reuters)

The Israeli army said two rockets were fired from Syria into open areas in the Israel-occupied Golan Heights on Tuesday, marking the first time a strike has been launched toward Israel from Syrian territory since the fall of former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in December.

Syrian state media reported that Israel shelled the western countryside of Syria’s Daraa province after the rocket launch. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based war monitor, also reported Israeli airstrikes that caused “violent explosions” around the city of Quneitra and in the Daraa countryside.

A group calling itself the Mohammed Deif Brigades — named after a Hamas military leader killed by an Israeli strike in Gaza last year — claimed the attack in a post on Telegram. The group first surfaced on social media a few days before.

“Until now, it’s just a Telegram channel. It’s not known if it is a real group,” said Ahmed Aba Zeid, a Syrian researcher who has studied armed factions in southern Syria.

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said in a statement that Israel considers “the Syrian president directly responsible for every threat and firing toward the State of Israel” and warned of a “full response” to come “as soon as possible.”

Israel has been suspicious of the former opposition fighters who formed the new Syrian government, led by President Ahmed al-Sharaa, and has launched hundreds of airstrikes on Syria and seized a UN-patrolled buffer zone on Syrian territory since Assad’s fall.

Syria’s foreign ministry said in a statement carried by the state-run TV channel that it has “not yet verified the accuracy” of the reports of strikes launched from Syria toward Israel.

“We affirm that Syria has not and will not pose a threat to any party in the region,” the statement said. It condemned the Israeli shelling, which it said had resulted in “significant human and material losses.”

The US, which has warmed to al-Sharaa's government and recently moved to lift some sanctions previously imposed on Syria, has pushed for Syria to normalize relations with Israel.

In a recent interview with the Jewish Journal, al-Sharaa said he wants to see a return to a 1974 ceasefire agreement between the two countries but stopped short of proposing immediate normalization, saying that “peace must be earned through mutual respect, not fear.”