Pro-Iran militia leader challenges Iraqi government attempts at restraint
Head of Asaib Ahl al-Haq Qais al-Khazali warns the Iraqi prime minister to steer clear of a clampdown or "lose everything.”
Following the raid by the Counter Terrorism Service (CTS) against the Kataib Hezbollah headquarter in Baghdad in the early hours of June 26, pro-Iran militias and their political allies are threatening the government of Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi, warning him to not continue taking actions against militias targeting US bases.
Qais al-Khazali, head of Asaib Ahl al-Haq, warned the prime minister to refrain from further actions against the Iran-backed Popular Mobilization Units (PMU).
“Your government is a temporary government with two specific goals: early election … and addressing the economic and health challenges,” Khazali said, warning him, “Don’t create any other issues and don’t get involved in other issues that might happen. … Otherwise, you might lose everything.”
He added, “You want to resolve the attacks by the resistance factions against the US forces, but you could never do that. None of the previous governments could do that and none of them took such an action. Instead, they were all ignoring this issue because they knew they couldn't touch it."
