Table of Contents
CURRENT AFFAIRS
- The Iraqi parliamentarians recently voted in favour of a resolution seeking to expel American troops from Iraq.
BACKGROUND STORY
- This was the first blowback the US faced after it assassinated Iranian General Qassem Soleimani inside Iraq.
- The U.S. troops are in Iraq on an invitation from the Iraqi government to fight the Islamic State.
KILLING OF GENERAL QASSEM SOLEIMANI OF IRAN
- Iran’s top security and intelligence commander, Major General Qassem Soleimani, was killed in a US drone attack in Baghdad.
- General Soleimani was killed in an airstrike, for which the US later claimed responsibility.
- The strike was carried out by a drone on a road near Baghdad’s international airport.
IRAQI REACTION
- This triggered public protests and led to the siege of the American Embassy.
- The anger among Iraqi lawmakers towards U.S. actions was on full display inside the Parliament hall before the voting.
- Iraqi Prime Minister Adil Abdul-Mahdi, who condemned the killing of Soleimani, has stated clearly that it is time for the Americans to go home.
- Government officials have already started working on a memorandum on the legal and procedural formalities to expel U.S. troops.
US’s REACTION
- S. has threatened Iraq with sanctions and a bill for billions of dollars if the US troops are forced to pull back.
TRIGGER
- S. decision to pull the U.S. out of a functioning Iran nuclear deal was the trigger.
- When the U.S. re-imposed sanctions on Iran, it was up to the other signatories of the deal – European countries, Russia and China – to save the agreement.
WAY AHEAD
- Europe, which has good ties with both the U.S. and Iran, should wake up at least now.
IRAN NUCLEAR DEAL
- The deal is officially called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) which aimed at curbing Iran’s nuclear programme.
- It was signed between Iran and the P5 + Germany and the EU in 2015.