Letter of US ambassador aims to soothe Iraqi Shiites: expert
Mohammad Saleh Sedqiyan, an expert on Iraqi affairs, has said that the letter that the US ambassador to Iraq sent to the U.S. State Department aims to assuage Iraqi Shiite concerns over the US presence in Iraq.
“The issue of the presence of American forces in Iraq is considered a challenge for Baghdad, and this issue went in another direction after the start of the Al-Aqsa Storm operation in Gaza, in such a way that we witnessed the exchange of harsh answers between the United States and the Iraqi groups. But now, the issue of the resolution of the Iraqi parliament regarding the withdrawal of the US from this country has been highlighted again. In the past, the same issue was discussed, but now it is being discussed that, parallel to this process, the Iraqi Prime Minister may be invited to visit the United States. Therefore, it is possible that the issue of leaving Iraq will be discussed by the United States later,” Sedqiyan said in an exclusive interview with ILNA.
He added, “In 2014, the Baghdad-Washington agreement was signed and the American military entered Iraq again under the name of the anti-ISIS coalition, and now there is talk of exit or withdrawal in the same format.”
The expert noted, “For this reason, the letter of the US ambassador to Iraq, which was sent to the State Department of this country, could be a sign to start new negotiations about leaving Iraq between Baghdad and Washington.”
Sedqiyan concluded, “I believe that before the end of the Gaza war, nothing special will happen regarding the withdrawal of the United States from Iraq, and in my opinion, this withdrawal will not be done all at once. The data shows that the letter sent by the US ambassador to Iraq to the country's State Department was generally aimed at calming the Shiites in the current situation and giving them the message that Washington will seek to withdraw from Iraq.”