ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Iran’s Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has urged Iraq’s Prime Minister Adil Abdul-Mahdi to remove US forces from Iraq as soon as possible and to reject closer relations with Tehran’s regional rival Saudi Arabia.
“You should take necessary measures so that the US will withdraw its troops from Iraq as soon as possible; because in any country where US maintained an enduring military presence, the process of expelling them became more complicated and problematic,” Khamenei told the Iraqi PM, according to a statement on his website.
There are roughly 5,200 US troops stationed in Iraq – officially invited back by the Iraqi government in 2014 to advise and train local forces in the fight against the Islamic State group (ISIS).
Shiite parties in Baghdad which enjoy close ties with Tehran have persistently called for a full US withdrawal, accusing Washington of treating Iraq like a colony.
However, in a recent interview with The Associated Press, Iraqi President Barham Salih said he does not see any “serious” opposition to the continued presence of US forces in Iraq.
“They are here for the specific mission of empowering and enabling Iraqi forces in the fight against ISIS. Nothing else. That is the specific exclusive mission, and in that context, I do not see serious opposition to the presence of these forces in Iraq today,” Salih said.
Khamenei’s call comes as US sanctions reimposed in November squeeze the Iranian economy and as Saudi Arabia tries to court Baghdad’s favor.
The Iraqi PM arrived in Tehran on Saturday for a two-day visit to discuss trade and bilateral relations.
Iraqi PM Adil Abdul-Mahdi holds a join press conference with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani in Tehran, April 6, 2019. Photo: PMO
“The Iranian nation and state consider the progress and prosperity of the Iraqi nation as part of their own interests,” Khamenei reportedly told Abdul-Mahdi.
“US officials—contrary to their verbal remarks—assume the democracy and the current assembly of political activists in Iraq as detrimental to themselves. Therefore the Iraqi government should take actions so that US troops will leave Iraq as soon as possible,” he added.
Referring to recent efforts by Saudi Arabia to court Iraq’s friendship and reduce Tehran’s leverage over Baghdad, Khamenei accused Riyadh of backing ISIS – a Sunni extremist group – against the Shiite-dominated government.
“At a time when the ISIS occupied Mosul, they provided the terrorists with money, arms and equipment; and now that Iraq has defeated ISIS, they pretend they seek friendship with Iraq,” Khamenei claimed.
Iraq is situated between the Middle East’s two great rivals. Abdul-Mahdi hopes to position Baghdad as a regional mediator by promoting good relations with all its neighbors.
Since the fall of Saddam Hussein’s regime in 2003, Iraq’s ruling Shiite parties have fostered close political, economic, and religious ties with their Shiite neighbor to the east.
The US has long sought to bolster relations between Iraq and Saudi Arabia, and to ease Tehran’s grip over Baghdad.
A key motivation for building ties with the Saudis is the need for a wealthy benefactor to help rebuild Iraq’s shattered cities and infrastructure, devastated by decades of war, sanctions, and corruption.
Crippled by US sanctions and engaged in several costly foreign interventions, Iran is unlikely to offer Iraq the kind of largess needed to fund its reconstruction.
This does not mean Iraq is turning its back on Iran, however. Iraqi leaders remember all too well it was their Iranian friends who were first to intervene when ISIS launched its conquest in 2014.