Iraq: Iran Seeks to Fill Vacuum Left by US Forces’ Withdrawal

The US announcement of reducing the number of troops in Iraq raised security fears. (Photo: Reuters)
The US announcement of reducing the number of troops in Iraq raised security fears. (Photo: Reuters)
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Iraq: Iran Seeks to Fill Vacuum Left by US Forces’ Withdrawal

The US announcement of reducing the number of troops in Iraq raised security fears. (Photo: Reuters)
The US announcement of reducing the number of troops in Iraq raised security fears. (Photo: Reuters)

The decision to reduce the number of US troops deployed in Iraq raised fears that Iran could exploit the vacuum to extend its complete control over the Iraqi street, in addition to concerns over the possibility of ISIS reviving its sleeper cells to carry out more operations in the country.

Senior Iraqi military officials in Baghdad said that the withdrawal of 500 US soldiers from Iraq would not have a major impact on the security; but some political leaders - especially from the Sunni and Kurdish circles – expressed concern that reducing the number of US troops in Iraq, if followed by further withdrawals, would affect the region’s security and political balance.

Christopher Miller, Acting Secretary of Defense, announced on Nov. 17 that the United States would reduce the number of its troops from 3,000 to 2,500 by Jan. 15, 2021.

In remarks to Asharq Al-Awsat, MP Mohammed Nuri Abd-Rabbu, deputy for the Nineveh governorate, said: “The US forces in Iraq have superior technologies, such as thermal cameras, drones, satellite images, etc., that enable them to monitor any movements of ISIS and prevent planned terrorist operations.”

Regarding the impact of the US forces’ withdrawal of American troops on the Iraqi political arena, Abd-Rabbu said: “Everyone knows that there are two forces controlling Iraq, namely the US and Iran; the decrease in the American forces will inevitably lead to strengthening the Iranian power, which controls a large part of Iraq, like Nineveh, Anbar and Salah al-Din.”

Security sources have stressed the possibility of Iran, through its proxies in Iraq, to carry out targeted operations against US interests in the country, in response to the assassination of Qassem Soleimani, commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, by US forces last year.

“Intelligence information indicates that loyalist factions in the Popular Mobilization Forces are planning to carry out operations targeting US interests on the anniversary of the killing of the Iranian (Revolutionary Guard) commander, Qassem Soleimani,” the sources said, noting that Iran also wanted to respond indirectly to the killing of the Iranian nuclear scientist Tahseen Fakhrizadeh.

For his part, Major General Bakhtiar Ali, a counselor at the Peshmerga Ministry, said that the withdrawal of US forces from Iraq would have a direct impact on the role of the international coalition forces against ISIS in Iraq and Syria and would negatively affect the capabilities of the Iraqi security forces, including the Peshmerga, in the fight against the terrorist group.



Palestinian Health Ministry Says One Dead in Israel West Bank Raid

Demonstrators clash with Palestinian security forces in Nablus in the West Bank (File photo/Reuters)
Demonstrators clash with Palestinian security forces in Nablus in the West Bank (File photo/Reuters)
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Palestinian Health Ministry Says One Dead in Israel West Bank Raid

Demonstrators clash with Palestinian security forces in Nablus in the West Bank (File photo/Reuters)
Demonstrators clash with Palestinian security forces in Nablus in the West Bank (File photo/Reuters)

The health ministry in the occupied West Bank said one person was killed and nine injured in an Israeli raid on a refugee camp, with the Israeli military saying Saturday it had opened fire at "terrorists".

An 18-year-old man, Muhammad Medhat Amin Amer, "was killed by bullets from the (Israeli) occupation in the Balata camp" in the territory's north, the Palestinian health ministry said in a late-night statement, adding that nine people were injured, "four of whom are in critical condition".

According to the Palestinian Red Crescent, the raid began on Friday night and triggered violent clashes, AFP reported.

The official Palestinian news agency Wafa reported that Israeli troops entered the camp from the Awarta checkpoint and "deployed snipers on the rooftops of surrounding buildings".

In a statement on Saturday, the Israeli military said that during the "counterterrorism" operation, "terrorists placed explosives in the area in order to harm (military) soldiers, hurled explosives, molotov cocktails, and rocks and shot fireworks at the forces".

"The forces fired toward the terrorists in order to remove the threat. Hits were identified," the statement said.

Violence in the West Bank has intensified since war broke out in the Gaza Strip after Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack on Israel.

Since then, at least 815 Palestinians have been killed in the territory by Israeli troops or settlers, according to the Palestinian health ministry in Ramallah.

In the same period, Palestinian attacks in the West Bank have killed at least 25 Israelis, according to official Israeli figures.

Israel has occupied the West Bank since conquering it in the 1967 Arab-Israeli war.