Table of Contents
Iran vs USA in Iraq
- USA has maintained a military presence in the country, leading a coalition to fight the ISIL (ISIS) group
- Iran wields vast influence over Iraqi politics.
- Iran also backs a number of Iraqi militias like Hashd al-Shaabi / Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF), an umbrella of armed groups.
The PMF
- These militias have long sought the withdrawal of US forces from Iraq.
- US forces have faced a spate of rocket attacks in past months, blaming them on pro-Iran PMF factions.
The Attack in Kirkuk
- On December 27 2019 , a rocket attack on an Iraqi military base in Kirkuk killed a US contractor and wounded several US service members and Iraqi personnel.
- US officials blamed Kataib Hezbollah, an Iran-backed militia, for the attack.
The Iran angle
- The US defence department said the Kataib Hezbollah militia had a “strong linkage” with Iran’s Quds Force, the overseas operations arm of the Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC), and had “repeatedly received lethal aid and other support from Iran”.
USA retaliated
- On 29 December 2019, the US military carried out “defensive strikes” on sites in Iraq and Syria belonging to Kataib Hezbollah that Washington said was in retaliation for the killing of the US contractor.
- 25 fighters were killed and 55 others wounded in these air attacks.
The attack on US embassy
- On December 31, enraged members and supporters of pro-Iranian paramilitary groups in Iraq, broke into the heavily fortified US embassy compound in Baghdad, smashing a main door and setting parts of its perimeter on fire.
- Demonstrators shouting “Death to America!” smashed their way into the embassy compound
- US troops fired tear gas and stun grenades at the protesters (supporters of PMF)
Importance of Baghdad Embassy
- In Baghdad, the US has its largest embassy, even larger than US embassies in Mexico and Canada, two countries that share long borders with America and have very much larger amounts of trade and travel between them and America.
The call-back
- Militia leaders with the Popular Mobilization Forces ultimately ordered supporters to retreat on 1st January 2020.
- No US personnel were injured in the attack and US officials said they had no plans to evacuate.
Deeper cause
- The clashes underscore the struggle in Iraq between the Shiite majority – long oppressed under Saddam Hussein – and Sunnis who make up about one-third of the nation of 40 million people.
Earlier instances of attacks on US Embassies
- Dramatic scenes at the embassy evoked memories of
- 1979-1981 hostage crisis at the US embassy in Tehran
- 2012 attack on the US consulate in Libya’s second city Benghazi.
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