Commander of the Special Unit of Iran's Law Enforcement Police Brigadier General Hassan Karami, said on Monday that his country will dispatch 7,500 troops to Iraq.
In interview with Iranian news agency AL-Mehr, he claimed that the Iranian troops aim at securing the Iraqis' celebrations of Arba’een, the 40th day since the martyrdom anniversary of Imam Hussein.
"More than 10,000 special forces are directly responsible for securing the Arba’een anniversary celebrations," Karami said, adding that 7500, of which, will be employed in streets, while the remaining 4000 will be standby forces.
Iraqis have been taking to the streets since last Tuesday in mass protests against government corruption, high unemployment, and the dire state of public services like water and electricity.