Mediaboss Marketing

Several rockets hit a military base in Erbil, northern Iraq last month, killing a foreign civilian contractor.

Tehran, Iran Iran has told the United Nations that claims of its role in attacks on United States interests in Iraq are completely baseless and lacking legal credibility.

In a letter to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, the countrys UN envoy Majid Takht-Ravanchi decisively rejected claims that Iran-backed paramilitary forces were behind recent attacks against the US.

The Islamic Republic of Iran has not had any involvement, directly or indirectly, in any armed attacks by any entities or individuals against the United States in Iraq, he wrote, according to parts of the letters text published by state-run IRNA news on Monday.

Last month, several rockets hit a military base inside the airport in Erbil, northern Iraq, which killed one foreign civilian contractor and wounded at least nine others, including an American soldier.

Foreign troops deployed as part of the US-led coalition that helped Iraq fight the ISIL (ISIS) armed group since 2014 are stationed at the site.

A shadowy group calling itself Awliya al-Dam or the Guardians of the Blood claimed responsibility for the attack and said it would continue to target occupation American forces in Iraq.

Several other rocket attacks were launched against US interests in Iraq in the following weeks.

Most recently, several rockets landed in the Ain al-Asad base in early March.

In January 2020, shortly after the US assassinated Irans top general Qassem Soleimani in Baghdad, Irans Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps fired more than a dozen rockets at the base in an attack that bore no casualties.

In response to the recent attacks, US President Joe Biden launched the first military operation of his administration, ordering an air attack on facilities in eastern Syria near the border with Iraq, which the US said are used by Iran-backed militias.

The air attack, which Biden said was proportionate and aimed at creating deterrence, killed 22 people, according to war monitor Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

In his letter, Irans envoy to the UN condemned the air attack, calling it illegal.

The US attacks amount to a violation of the sovereignty of the regions countries and a clear symbol of the gross violation of international rights and the UN Charter, Takht-Ravanchi said.

The representative also said the US moves only destabilise the region further and serve to advance the interests of terrorist groups.

He requested the letter be formally recognised as a UN Security Council document.

In late February, Irans Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif told his Iraqi counterpart, Fuad Hussein, in Tehran that the recent rocket attacks against US positions in Iraq are suspicious and the perpetrators must be identified.

The regional conflicts have escalated as Iran and the US continue to be at a standstill over restoring Irans 2015 nuclear deal with world powers.

Here is the original post:
Iran tells UN it was not behind attacks on US interests in Iraq - Al Jazeera English

The Pope's trip to Iraq has left a new light in a land devastated by a war that has been going on for ten years, showing to the world the thirst for peace and fraternity of a population that wants to start living again.

By Massimiliano Menichetti

"For us it was like waking up from a nightmare, we could not believe our eyes, the country really can get back on its feet." These simple words summarize the hope of an entire people, the Iraqi people, who embraced the Pope from March 5 to 8. The image of this trip is captured in a snapshot in Mosul, the former capital of the so-called Islamic State, where the rubble is riddled with thousands of bullet holes; where seeing churches, houses, mosques destroyed and disfigured, one touches the violence of the fighting and the fury of man who destroys, tramples and annihilates his brother.

In that context, where horror seemed to prevail, the Pope was greeted by the singing of children waving olive branches. Others, not far from that encounter, were playing on a dirt road; asphalt remained only in the central streets. A little girl of four or five, dressed in a pink floral onesie and a pair of slippers, broke away from her group of companions and walked backwards. Unconsciously she stopped at the feet of a soldier. She looks at him, running her eyes over his entire figure, from his head to his feet.

The soldier - with the explosives on his waist, the helmet, the glasses to protect himself from the sun - bends his neck and meets the gaze of the little girl, her face dirty with earth like the rest of her body. Behind them, only the rubble of what used to be houses. Their eyes met despite those dark lenses, the man stroked the little girl on the head and lifted her up. She bursts into a smile, which he instantly reciprocates. In that image we can see the whole present and future of Iraq.

It was a memorable trip for Pope Francis, the first Pope to set foot in the land of Abraham. He encouraged and confirmed in the faith the Christian community, which together with Muslims and minorities such as the Yazidis, had experienced unspeakable suffering. It was a historic journey, bridging the gap with the Shiites after the efforts made with regard to the Sunnis in Abu Dhabi. It was historic on account ofthe welcome he received. But above all, it was a historic journey on account of the light of goodness and redemption he brought to a place devastated by war, violence and persecution perpetrated by ISIS, and now experiencing the scourges of poverty and the covid-19 pandemic.

What is particularly striking for someone visiting Iraq is the militarization: everywhere there were men in war gear, with thick bulletproof vests, belts with hand grenades, helmets with precision visors, and heavy weapons; along the road, tanks, armored cars, dozens of pick-up trucks with machine guns. Along the streets, just meters from those greeting the Pope with small flags and banners, unauthorized persons were held with hands behind their backs. In Baghdad, Nassirya, Ur, Mosul, Qaraqosh, Erbil, yellow and white Vatican flags were flown along walls topped with barbed wire.

In 2020, Iraq suffered approximately 1400 terrorist attacks; jobs are hard to find, and economic difficulties are a dramatic reality. But this is not the only reality in the country, even if this is the prevailing narrative - and often the only one. That narrative has no time for those who help others, for those who are committed to a reality of sharing and reconstruction.

The Pope's journey has shed a different light on the country, and for the first time in decades, Iraq is being spoken of in positive terms: of welcome, of prospects, of the future. Christians and Muslims shared with Pope Francis not only their sufferings, but also their faith, their strength, their determination to remain, putting back on its feet a land that in the past was the cradle of ancient civilizations and an example of peaceful coexistence. Everyone listened to what they called "the great words" pronounced by a wise man.

Christians found themselves in prayer with the Successor of Peter, becoming a light for the whole world. A people grounded in reality, marked by stories of unspeakable suffering, who seek to overcome hatred and who will not accept becoming a repository of terror and fundamentalism. The Pope has brought a new ferment, in a reality accustomed to being depicted with dark and deadly colors. In Baghdad, where walls and armored perimeters protect the faithful in churches and mosques, semi-inhabited buildings alternate with festively lit squares and very poor neighborhoods, where architecture shows the discontinuity of styles and the signs of fighting.

Pope Francis remembered the martyrs, and, condemning all forms of fundamentalism, embraced the Christian community and all those who have suffered and continue to suffer. Despite the pandemic, entire families gathered behind the cordons and separations formed by armored vehicles, in order to see, if only for a moment, "the man of peace" who came from afar. In Ur of the Chaldeans, where the eagerly anticipated inter-religious meeting was held, the desert wind blew through protective nets placed along the route from the airport of Nassirya. Here, where tradition places the home of Abraham, with one of the largest Ziggurats in the world forming a backdrop, the stars of the sky were seen in broad daylight, the firmament that the Pope indicated as a compass, to walk on earth, to build paths of encounter, dialogue and peace.

Those present spoke of an "extraordinary, unimaginable encounter," giving thanks to God in different languages. The joy and emotion of the community of Qaraqosh, where the majority of the inhabitants are Christians, was unforgettable. The Pope listened to accounts of the wounds and the testimony of faith of those who have seen children, wives, brothers killed by ISIS. He heard pleas for forgiveness for the killers. Here, on the faces of young and old, tears flowed when the Pope uttered the words, "You are not alone."

Iraq's greeting of hope for the Pope became visible in the large stadium in Erbil, Iraqi Kurdistan, where so many Iraqis and Syrians found refuge. More than 10,000 people, coming from all parts of the country, prayed with Pope Francis, waiting in silence and recollection, with a new hope in their hearts: that a different Iraq is possible.

Read this article:
The hope of Iraq in the smile of a little girl - Vatican News

Following a drone attack in the Baghdad International Airport in early January 2020 that resulted in the death of Qassim Suleimani, the commander of Iranian forces, tensions between the United States and Iraq have grown more and more violent.

In the early weeks of February, a civilian contractor was killed and a U.S. service member and five others were injured in an airstrike that struck Erbil and the region surrounding it.

Little-known Shiite armed group transated as Guardian of the Blood claimed responsibility for this deadly attack, as well as two additional bombings against U.S. contractor convoys back in August of last year.

On Feb. 15, 107 mm rockets were launched near Erbil Airport in northern Iraq, which resulted in the fatality of a Filipino contractor and casualties of six others, including a Louisiana National Guard soldier and four American contractors.

Iraqi officials have taken two of the men who were responsible for this attack into custody.

While Heidar al-Bayatis name has been released as a suspect in custody, the name of the other has yet to be disclosed.

In late February, President Biden authorized the United States to carry out airstrikes in eastern Syria, following the airstrike on the Erbil International Airport in Kurdish and other regions of Erbil.

In order to avoid diplomatic blowback to the Iraqi government, these strikes took place just over the border in Syria in the town of Aub Kamal.

These overnight airstrikes hit three loaded trucks, resulting in 22 fatalities. Though Rami Abdulrahman, the head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, suggested that this number was expected to rise as a result of the number of people who were critically injured.

This proportionate military response was conducted together with diplomatic measures, including consultation with coalition partners, Biden said.

Additional comments were made by John F. Kirby, the Pentagon press secretary.

We have acted in a deliberate manner that aims to de-escalate the overall situation in both eastern Syria and Iraq, stated Kirby

The Iran-backed militia Kataib Hezbollah revealed that one of its fighters, who was a member of the Popular Mobilization Forces a part of the Iraqi security forces that are helping to prevent infiltration by the Islamic State had been killed in the airstrike in Syria.

In retaliation to this airstrike, an Iraqi-backed militia fired ten rockets at a military base in Iraq that had been hosting approximately 2,000 U.S.-led coalition troops.

According to a tweet posted by Operation Inherent Resolve military spokesman Colonel Wayne Marotto, the rockets had been targeted at the Ain al-Asad air base on March 3.

Major General Tahseen al-Khafaji of the Iraqi security forces suggested that there was no damage reported at the base, and that the security forces are still investigating who is behind the attack.

While no one has claimed responsibility for this attack, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin expressed concern that the same people who had launched the airstrike on the attack on the Erbil International Airport had also been the ones behind the attack on the U.S. military base.

Jessica McNulty, a Pentagon spokesperson, backed this statement.

We assess that C-RAM effectively engaged four of the 10 rockets that impact the base, McNulty said. None of the rockets made direct hits on any structures or vehicles. There was some minor shrapnel damage that will not have any impact on operations at Al Asad.

In spite of all of the positive feedback about the attack, members of different government agencies have expressed their displeasure.

One such person, Representative Rho Khana (D-CA),on the House Armed Services Committee, mentioned that there was no possible justification for these attacks during an interview with CNN.

Offensive military action without congressional approval is not constitutional absent (from) extraordinary circumstances. Congress must be fully briefed on this matter expeditiously, stated Khanna

The rocket attacks on the U.S. military base were carried out while Washington and Tehran are trying to find a way to return to the nuclear deal that had been abandoned by former U.S. President Donald Trump.

Not much is known about how these airstrikes will affect the efforts by the United States to coax Iran back into a negotiating position from both.

Even though were highly committed to reestablishing dialogue with the Iranians, we can undertake military strikes at the same time, said Michael Knights, an analyst at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy

See the original post here:
Rockets Fired on U.S. military base in Iraq - The Campus

The regional hegemonic powers clearly set out to attack Iraqs sovereignty and national dignity. The zero-sum game between Iran and Turkey over influence in Iraq is no longer so surprising. But it raises serious questions about the Arab position on what these two countries are plotting against an Arab state with a long history.What has happened between Iran and Turkey in recent times is not just a verbal squabble that spilled over into a diplomatic crisis, as it may seem. Indeed, there is a strong antagonism between these two countries that masquerades behind the common interest of pursuing their colonial projects while scorning Arab national sovereignty and interests.

Iranian Ambassador to Iraq Iraj Masjedi said that his country does not tolerate the presence of foreign troops in Iraq, nor a military intervention on its territory, alluding to the occupation of Iraqi territory by Turkish forces. Such a declaration would have been fair, if only it had not been made by an official of a state that is literally doing what it accuses others of doing.

Iran and Turkey are foreign powers that have been illegally intervening in Iraq for years. Each is embroiled in a barbarous occupation of parts of Iraq. How can one call the other out and describe it as an occupier? The mullahs themselves openly boasted years ago that they occupied the capital of Iraq among four Arab capitals.

No one can forget the March 2015 statement by Ali Younesi, Irans former minister of intelligence and adviser to the current Iranian president: Iran has become an empire, as it has been throughout history, and its capital is now Baghdad.

Funny how the Iranian ambassador called on Turkey to withdraw to the international border and leave the task of securing Iraq to the Iraqis, but did not tell his own side the same. His country has spread its sectarian militias all over Iraq. It is hampering the unity of the Iraqi people and sabotaging all efforts to restore security on its territory.

Of course, what applies to Iran is sure to apply to Turkey. Both have a strategic expansion project at the cost of Arab states: nibbling away at their territories, plundering their riches and exploiting them in a game of blackmail against the major powers.

cnxps.cmd.push(function () { cnxps({ playerId: '36af7c51-0caf-4741-9824-2c941fc6c17b' }).render('4c4d856e0e6f4e3d808bbc1715e132f6'); });

THIS MAY be the moment of the projects clash, and conflicts of interest may arise after years of pretend cooperation and coordination between them. In repeated joint meetings in recent years, Iran and Turkey have spoken of historic friendships and other rosy phrases that did not weather the first storm that rocked the walls of these frail ties.

He went on to speak inappropriately about what he described as non-ancient Arab countries. The meeting saw a splurge of histrionics from both sides on the Palestinian issue, which they are fighting each other to exploit to conquer the hearts of Arab people, so as to implement their colonial projects through sectarian and terrorist groups and elements, alas, of Arab nationalities.

The conflict between the Iranian and Turkish projects on Iraqi soil is neither new, nor fleeting, nor shocking.

Few have bought the words of phony friendship swapped by the two countries leaders, who have nothing but anti-Arab sentiment. In Syria as in Iraq, there is an intense or temporarily buried conflict between the two countries, marked by divergent sectarian tendencies and a desire to extend ones influence to others detriment.

Since 2003, the two sides have banded together to put a lid on the Kurdish project, consenting to violate Iraqs sovereignty from east to west and to launch strike after strike against the Kurds. Afterward, the mullahs kept silent about Turkeys presence in Syria, especially in Idlib. Turkey turned a blind eye to Irans presence in Syria.

But Turkeys strong incursion into northern Iraq in recent months did not sit well with the mullahs. They did not welcome Turkeys growing role in Lebanon either. The latest spat brings out a repressed anger that is looking for an exit to redefine the dynamics between the two players.

Iran and Turkey, aided by transnational terrorist organizations and groups, have done much to blur religion and politics, playing on sectarianism and seeking to erode national affiliations in favor of confessional affinities.

The mullahs view Iraq as part of the new Persian empire, as declared in 2017by former Iranian defense minister Gen. Hossein Dehghan in 2017, while Erdogans neo-Ottomanism looks at Arabs with the same supremacist gaze as the mullahs.

The Turkish-Iranian conflict in Iraq is the result, as noted above, of the intersection of Turkish nationalist and Iranian sectarian projects to control and dominate the Arab region and to take advantage of the power vacuum that has existed since the 2011 troubles. We may expect each side to get bolder as it solidifies its positions in Iraq and elsewhere.

THIS ADDS a new burden to Iraq and Iraqis, and weakens the current governments efforts to gradually restore the countrys role and status.

The Arab position on Irans and Turkeys assaults on Iraqi sovereignty is well known. However, Arab rejection of their interference is limited to words, and does not translate into coordinated efforts within a joint Arab diplomatic framework to respond resolutely to these violations.

In fact, the room for maneuver of Arab actors is thin. Perhaps this is due to the circumstances of the Arab regional system or the declining role of international organizations, the lack of effective international cooperation, and the changing interests and priorities due to the circumstances of the coronavirus pandemic.

Nevertheless, it is imperative to provide all possible Arab support to Iraq to free this great Arab country from the straitjacket of the regional power struggle between Iran and Turkey.

The writer is a UAE political analyst and former Federal National Council candidate.

More here:
Iran and Turkey's power struggle in Iraq - opinion - The Jerusalem Post

Baghdad Monday, March 15, 2021 H.E. Minister of Planning, Dr. Khaled Battal Al-Najm received Dr. Salah El Hajj Hassan, Representative of the Food Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in Iraq and H.E Ambassador Safia Al-Suhail, Permanent Representative of the Republic of Iraq to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

The meeting aimed to strengthen cooperation between FAO Iraq and the ministry of planning. The discussions focused on enhancing the joint framework's implementation for the development of the agricultural sector in Iraq and the collaboration mechanism between the relevant ministries. The joint framework was identified as the appropriate road map for setting each ministry's priorities in detail and align the plan with each ministry's strategic objectives.

In his welcoming notes, Dr. Khaled Battal Al-Najm emphasized the importance of reviving the agricultural sector to be a leader in Iraq's economy and maximize its contribution to national production; he also commended the effectiveness of FAO Iraq in supporting the agricultural sector.

Ambassador Safia Al-Suhail discussed best practices in promoting and activating the cooperation framework, stressing the Iraq's need for the FAO support in programs that target the agricultural sector and farmers, improve the environment, and build or strengthen capacities through programs that provide institutional and individual support.

Dr. ElHajj Hassan stressed the importance of the joint framework as an effective, innovative, and sustainable mechanism for coordinating Iraq's agricultural sector development. This framework will guarantee the best investment of resources in supporting sustainable agriculture growth to achieve food security, employment generation, and climate change resilience. He added that FAO will provide the necessary support to improve Iraq's agriculture sector. At the end of the meeting, the Minister thanked FAO's delegation and highlighted the importance of cooperation and coordination with the FAO to develop Iraq's agricultural sector.

View original post here:
FAO in Iraq with the Minister of Planning and the Permanent Representative of Iraq to FAO in Rome, discussed strengthening the cooperation framework...