عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
World

Iranian Delegation Pressures Baghdad to Recognize Soleimani as State Guest

A member of Iraq’s PMF stands guard in front of a banner depicting slain Iraqi deputy chief Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis and Iranian Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani (AFP)
A member of Iraq’s PMF stands guard in front of a banner depicting slain Iraqi deputy chief Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis and Iranian Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani (AFP)
TT
TT

Iranian Delegation Pressures Baghdad to Recognize Soleimani as State Guest

A member of Iraq’s PMF stands guard in front of a banner depicting slain Iraqi deputy chief Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis and Iranian Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani (AFP)
A member of Iraq’s PMF stands guard in front of a banner depicting slain Iraqi deputy chief Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis and Iranian Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani (AFP)

An Iranian delegation arrived in Baghdad last week to pressure the Iraqi government to recognize that General Qassem Soleimani, who was assassinated in 2020, was an official guest of Iraq, Iraqi sources reported.

According to the sources, the delegation included diplomats and jurists from Tehran, all of whom were commissioned by Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian.

They exerted great pressure on the government of Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia' al-Sudani to issue an official document recognizing that Soleimani was an official guest of Iraq when he was assassinated at dawn on January 3, 2020, sources told Asharq Al-Awsat.

The Iraqi government asked its experts to study the request and figure out a way to issue the document without angering Washington.

Shiite parties backing al-Sudani’s government fear that Soleimani’s case will affect Baghdad’s relationship with the US, which they see as “necessary for the stability of the prime minister’s position.”

Former Iraqi Prime Minister Adil Abdul-Mahdi, two days after Soleimani’s assassination, affirmed that he was slated to meet the slain Iranian general. He said Soleimani was meant to deliver an Iranian response to a letter from Saudi Arabia regarding truce negotiations in the region.

Sources close to the government offices claimed that al-Sudani wants to please the US and Iran at the same time, and this pushes him to search for a compromise regarding Soleimani’s file.

Moreover, sources pointed to Iraqi officials’ shock at “the Iranian rush regarding the recognition, especially its political timing.”

Pro-Iranian Shiite parties are not enthusiastic about Tehran’s demand. Even the leader of the Asa'ib Ahl al-Haq movement does not now want a confrontation with Washington, sources affirmed.

An Iraqi legal expert, who requested anonymity, said that the request indicates Iranian intent to draft a judicial file based on violating Iraq’s sovereignty in accordance with international law. Tehran wants to accuse Washington of assassinating a figure who was labeled an official guest.

This will lead Iraq, according to the expert, to be a binding party in bringing any lawsuit before the international courts against the US.

Most Viewed

 
 
World

Typhoon Gaemi Weakens to Tropical Storm as It Moves Inland Carrying Rain toward Central China

In this photo released by the Taiwan Ministry of National Defense, Taiwanese soldiers clear debris in the aftermath of Typhoon Gaemi in Kaohsiung county in southwestern Taiwan, Friday, July 26, 2024. (Taiwan Ministry of National Defense via AP)
In this photo released by the Taiwan Ministry of National Defense, Taiwanese soldiers clear debris in the aftermath of Typhoon Gaemi in Kaohsiung county in southwestern Taiwan, Friday, July 26, 2024. (Taiwan Ministry of National Defense via AP)
TT
TT

Typhoon Gaemi Weakens to Tropical Storm as It Moves Inland Carrying Rain toward Central China

In this photo released by the Taiwan Ministry of National Defense, Taiwanese soldiers clear debris in the aftermath of Typhoon Gaemi in Kaohsiung county in southwestern Taiwan, Friday, July 26, 2024. (Taiwan Ministry of National Defense via AP)
In this photo released by the Taiwan Ministry of National Defense, Taiwanese soldiers clear debris in the aftermath of Typhoon Gaemi in Kaohsiung county in southwestern Taiwan, Friday, July 26, 2024. (Taiwan Ministry of National Defense via AP)

Tropical storm Gaemi brought rain to central China on Saturday as it moved inland after making landfall at typhoon strength on the country's east coast Thursday night.

The storm felled trees, flooded streets and damaged crops in China but there were no reports of casualties or major damage. Eight people died in Taiwan, which Gaemi crossed at typhoon strength before heading over open waters to China.

The worst loss of life, however, was in a country that Gaemi earlier passed by but didn't strike directly: the Philippines. A steadily climbing death toll has reached 34, authorities there said Friday. The typhoon exacerbated seasonal monsoon rains in the Southeast Asian country, causing landslides and severe flooding that stranded people on rooftops as waters rose around them.

China Gaemi weakened to a tropical storm since coming ashore Thursday evening in coastal Fujian province, but it is still expected to bring heavy rains in the coming days as it moves northwest to Jiangxi, Hubei and Henan provinces.

About 85 hectares (210 acres) of crops were damaged in Fujian province and economic losses were estimated at 11.5 million yuan ($1.6 million), according to Chinese media reports. More than 290,000 people were relocated because of the storm.

Elsewhere in China, several days of heavy rains this week in Gansu province left one dead and three missing in the country's northwest, the official Xinhua News Agency said.

Taiwan Residents and business owners swept out mud and mopped up water Friday after serious flooding that sent cars and scooters floating down streets in parts of southern and central Taiwan. Some towns remained inundated with waist-deep water.

Eight people died, several of them struck by falling trees and one by a landslide hitting their house. More than 850 people were injured and one person was missing, the emergency operations center said.

Visiting hard-hit Kaohsiung in the south Friday, President Lai Ching-te commended the city's efforts to improve flood control since a 2009 typhoon that brought a similar amount of rain and killed 681 people, Taiwan's Central News Agency reported.

Lai announced that cash payments of $20,000 New Taiwan Dollars ($610) would be given to households in severely flooded areas.

A cargo ship sank off the coast near Kaohsiung Harbor during the typhoon, and the captain's body was later pulled from the water, the Central News Agency said. A handful of other ships were beached by the storm.

Philippines At least 34 people died in the Philippines, mostly because of flooding and landslides triggered by days of monsoon rains that intensified when the typhoon — called Carina in the Philippines — passed by the archipelago’s east coast.

The victims included 11 people in the Manila metro area, where widespread flooding trapped people on the roofs and upper floors of their houses, police said. Some drowned or were electrocuted in their flooded communities.

Earlier in the week, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. ordered authorities to speed up efforts in delivering food and other aid to isolated rural villages, saying people may not have eaten for days.

The bodies of a pregnant woman and three children were dug out Wednesday after a landslide buried a shanty in the rural mountainside town of Agoncillo in Batangas province.