logo
Iran-backed Iraqi militia threatens to attack Israel and its allies

Iran-backed Iraqi militia threatens to attack Israel and its allies

The National13 hours ago

A Tehran-backed armed faction in Iraq has threatened to join the war between Israel and Iran, heightening concerns that the conflict, now in its fourth day, could spread across the region.
The True Promise Corps, part of a shadowy coalition calling itself the Islamic Resistance Iraq, said on Monday that it would launch attacks against Israel and its interests in the region.
'We declare that all the sites and camps of the entity [Israel] and anyone who supports it in the region are targets for us,' its leader, Mohammed Al Tamimi, said in a statement on X.
The threat marks a sharp shift in tone by Iran-backed Iraqi militias, who said previously that they would enter the conflict only if US forces based in the country intervened to support Israel.
The Islamic Resistance in Iraq has previously claimed responsibility for drone and rocket attacks against Israel and US forces in the region over Israel's war in Gaza.
Mr Al Tamimi also threatened action against 'Israeli agents' in Iraq. He singled out the capital of Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan Region, Erbil, as a potential target, calling it a hub for 'training agents and spies'.
Iran and its Iraqi proxies have long accused the Kurds of hosting a station of Israel's Mossad spy agency in the region. They have launched several attacks on Erbil, including with ballistic missiles launched from Iran.
On Sunday, the powerful Kataib Hezbollah group said it was monitoring movements of US troops in the region. 'If America intervenes in the war, we will act without any hesitation against its interests and bases,' the group said.
Other Iran-backed groups such as Hezbollah Harakat Al Nujabaa, Kata'ib Sayyid Al Shuhada and Asaib Ahl Al Haq have taken the same position.
Tehran holds significant sway through political and paramilitary proxies in Iraq, and their involvement in the conflict could destabilise the country's recovery from years of war and sectarian violence.
The Iraqi government has asked both Iran and US, its two most important allies, to stop it being caught up in the conflict, Iraqi officials have said.
Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al Sudani told Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian in a phone call on Sunday that 'Iraq is keen to prevent the war from expanding', according to a statement from his office.
Mr Pezeshkian 'urged the Iraqi government to take measures to protect its airspace and prevent its territory from being exploited by adversaries', according to an Iranian statement.
In a move to alleviate Iranian concerns, Iraq deployed air defence systems in several 'sensitive areas' around the country on Sunday, mainly near the borders with Iran. Iraq has also lodged a formal complaint with the UN Security Council regarding Israel's violation of its airspace after it began attacking Iran on Friday.

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Netanyahu wants regime change in Iran. Is Trump on board?
Netanyahu wants regime change in Iran. Is Trump on board?

Middle East Eye

timean hour ago

  • Middle East Eye

Netanyahu wants regime change in Iran. Is Trump on board?

Speaking to the US broadcaster ABC News on Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was asked about reports that US President Donald Trump nixed an Israeli plan to assassinate Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. "It's not going to escalate the conflict, it's going to end the conflict," Netanyahu insisted, not denying Trump's rejection nor such Israeli plans. Israel, he said, is "doing what we need to do". Not long after, two leading voices in the "Make America Great Again" movement - Steve Bannon, a former adviser to Trump during his first term, and Tucker Carlson, a former Fox News pundit - said all signs from the White House pointed to regime change in Iran, as they assessed the administration's moves since Israel launched its first air strikes on Tehran on Friday. "Why was Tulsi Gabbard not invited to the Camp David meeting all day?" Bannon asked about the director of national intelligence, who had testified to lawmakers in March that there was no intelligence to suggest Iran is close to building a nuclear weapon. New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters "It wasn't just about the nuclear programme. It's a decapitation of total leadership," he added. "So this is a total regime change, which, by the way - you may have a plan for regime change, that's fine - but you got to bring the American people on." "This is the point of this, is regime change," Carlson chimed in. "I know everyone involved. I know I'm telling the truth. I have no weird motive here at all." But is there really an appetite within the Trump administration to go down a similar path to the one assumed by George W Bush in Iraq 22 years ago? "Today, it's Tel Aviv. Tomorrow, it's New York," Netanyahu warned on ABC News. "Look, I understand 'America First'. I don't understand 'America Dead'." But several "America Firsters" who wield influence among both Trump's voter base and his administration aren't buying Netanyahu's argument and have gone on the record to state their opposition to the US being dragged into another war in the Middle East. 'They have contingencies' Laws and norms established for warfare dating back to the 1600s have prohibited the targeted assassinations of heads of state. The "war on terror" that the US mounted after the 9/11 attacks muddied those definitions, given the open-ended "war" was not a traditional one against a nation-state and its army, but rather guerrilla groups, international militias, and ideologies labelled "extremism" or "Islamic fundamentalism". On Washington's books, Iran has been designated as a state sponsor of terrorism since 1984, five years after the 1979 revolution that overthrew the US-backed monarchy led by Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. "Imagine if Russia tried to assassinate the president of the United States, and the West's reaction to it," Sina Azodi, an Iran expert at George Washington University, told Middle East Eye in reference to attempts at regime change. "There is a possibility that Israelis might try to assassinate Khamenei. But... this is not a group, it's a country. They have contingencies. Iran has a council [whose] job it is to elect the next supreme leader." That Iran is not an autocracy in the traditional sense, with one strongman and no successors, would complicate any US involvement in such an effort, likely dragging it into direct involvement, something Trump has repeatedly stated he is opposed to. Azodi likens it to the case of Iraq in the 1990s, where only once the US invaded and occupied the country a decade later was it able to enact regime change. "Or the case of Yugoslavia in the 1990s, the bombing campaign of Nato did not result in a regime change there. Nothing happened. Why? Because you need people on the ground." Decades of ever-tightening US sanctions on Iran's energy and financial sectors have thus far failed to produce a popular organic uprising against the Ayatollah's rule, in the same vein as 1979. And Trump, at least until Friday, appeared to be eagerly anticipating a diplomatic victory with Iran and a new nuclear deal with his name on it, especially after, in a surprising move, he personally traded letters with Khamenei earlier in the year. So how did the conversation shift to assassination? "I mean, we are in a world where much of international law, including the law of war, has lost practical meaning," Dylan Williams, the vice president for government affairs at the Center for International Policy, told MEE. "The United States has been fine with over a year and a half of Israel consistently breaking international law as well as the laws of the United States in the Gaza context. I certainly don't expect the Trump administration to offer much resistance to Israel similarly engaging in gross violations of international law in the war it initiated with Iran," he said. "I think President Trump himself means what he says when he posts about de-escalating and returning to diplomacy. I just think the leeway he's given Netanyahu works directly against that." Opposite effect The US is the only global actor with the leverage to rein in Israel. But that leeway provided to Netanyahu may only harden the stance of the Iranian government and further unify Iranians against the West. "The Netanyahu government claims [to want] to destabilise the regime," Azodi said. "But in reality, I think that the Israeli government is offering the Islamic Republic an insurance policy. Why? Because it's normally, it's usually the case that under cases of national crisis, governments become more oppressive." "Now the Iranian government has always been an oppressive regime. There's no question," he added. "But now they have an excuse to be more oppressive and crack down on any sort of dissent." Still, a popular uprising against Khamenei "seems less likely by the day, as Israel attacks Iranian civilian infrastructure and civilian casualties mount", Williams told MEE, adding that instead, what they are witnessing is more Iranian people, even opponents of the regime, rallying around the flag. A Jewish Iranian-American who has family in Israel and who asked to remain anonymous to speak freely with MEE explained that there is little sympathy for the regime change campaign among young Iranians, in particular, both in the diaspora and in Iran. "I think we shouldn't jump to underestimating the resiliency and breadth and depth of Iranian nationalism [and] the ability to reconstitute," the individual said. "Iran's got 80 million people.... I've not heard anyone actually express sympathy for this regime change campaign, and I think I've heard nothing but complete ridicule of [Reza Pahlavi, the last Shah's son] in some of his statements." The lack of an organic movement that can topple the regime with external help will likely just remind the US of the mistakes it made in Iraq during the "war on terror". If Netanyahu indeed carries out an assassination of Iranian political leaders outside of the military's ranks, there is little doubt that the optics will point towards the US and its culpability in any such event. "President Trump has been clear that we are supplying Israel with the weapons to carry out this campaign, and that more weapons are coming. We're clearly providing it the diplomatic cover and encouragement on the world stage," Williams told MEE. "The peoples of the region, no doubt, see this as a US and Israeli effort, even if at this stage, it is only actively being carried out by the Israelis." Azodi thinks Trump, at this point in time, has no interest in taking a gamble with Iran's governance, not as long as Iran wants to return to the negotiating table. "I don't think the United States cares about the regime in Iran - the type of the regime in Iran - as long as it plays with or accepts the US dominance in the Middle East," he explained. "What the core problem of this is with the US, is that [Iran's] nature is anti-imperialistic. It rejects the dominance of the United States in the region. It is trying to force the United States out of the region, and that is why the US has a problem with it."

Trump's stance on Israel-Iran conflict alienates his Maga base
Trump's stance on Israel-Iran conflict alienates his Maga base

The National

timean hour ago

  • The National

Trump's stance on Israel-Iran conflict alienates his Maga base

US President Donald Trump 's support for Israel as it attacks Iran has divided his base, with many supporters angered over what they see as a betrayal of his 'America First' pledge. The Trump administration initially distanced itself from Friday's opening strikes conducted by Israel against Iran, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio stressing that the US was not involved. But within hours, Mr Trump praised Israel's 'excellent' military strikes and told Iran it must make a deal 'before there is nothing left' of the country. The US is also moving assets in the Middle East region to help Israel as it defends against Iranian missile strikes, and Mr Trump has said 'it's possible' the US could get involved. Prominent members of the often-hawkish Republican Party have long advocated for war with Iran, with either US or Israeli strikes, but Mr Trump has cast himself as a ' peacemaker and unifier ' and promised to keep the US out of new wars. Since taking office in January, he has pushed for a lasting ceasefire in Gaza, a Russia-Ukraine peace deal and a nuclear agreement with Tehran. None of these efforts have yielded concrete results. Now, the Make America Great Again movement that propelled Mr Trump to the White House is taking note of his support for Israel. For one of the first times since he took office in January, the isolationist coalition that wants to end all US military action overseas is showing signs of upset. Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, a passionate Trump supporter and a prominent member of the Maga movement, said anyone wishing for war with Iran was 'disgusting' and lamented America's previous military engagements in the Middle East. 'Anyone slobbering for the U.S. to become fully involved in the Israel/Iran war is not America First/Maga,' she wrote on X. 'Wishing for murder of innocent people is disgusting. We are sick and tired of foreign wars. All of them.' Mr Trump told The Atlantic on Saturday that he gets to determine what 'America First' means. 'For those people who say they want peace – you can't have peace if Iran has a nuclear weapon. So for all of those wonderful people who don't want to do anything about Iran having a nuclear weapon – that's not peace,' he said. Representative Thomas Massie, a prominent Maga Republican who has voted against sending military aid to Israel, posted a poll he ran that showed most respondents agreed with his stance. As Israel began attacking Iran last week, Charlie Kirk, a pro-Israel Maga loyalist, held a live podcast to ask his pro-Trump audience what they thought of events. 'The emails are so largely overwhelmingly against Israel doing this, I'd say it's probably a 99 to one,' Mr Kirk said. 'No issue currently divides the right as much as foreign policy,' he later posted on X. 'I'm very concerned based on (everything) I've seen in the grassroots the last few months that this will cause a massive schism in Maga and potentially disrupt our momentum and our insanely successful presidency.' Further complicating matters for Mr Trump is his past handling of the conflict. In 2018 he unilaterally withdrew the US from the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran, negotiated under his predecessor Barack Obama, calling it the 'worst deal ever". But since returning to the White House, he has now spent nearly six months trying to get Iran to agree to a similar deal to constrain its nuclear programme. He had criticised former president Joe Biden last year for preventing Israel from carrying out strikes on Iranian nuclear sites, only to find himself advocating for diplomacy. Saagar Enjeti, a presenter on the right-wing Breaking Points YouTube show, has said Mr Trump is letting down his isolationist supporters. 'Trump has now praised Israel's strike, affirmed US material support, and Israeli media is reporting his public opposition was a disinformation campaign to mislead Iran,' he said. 'So in other words Trump, not Israel, has made a mockery of all of us who wanted to avoid this war.'

Tehran to 'pay the price': Israeli defence chief's latest threat to civilians
Tehran to 'pay the price': Israeli defence chief's latest threat to civilians

The National

time3 hours ago

  • The National

Tehran to 'pay the price': Israeli defence chief's latest threat to civilians

Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said that 'residents of Tehran will pay the price' for Iran's bombing of Israeli cities, the latest instance in which he has threatened civilian populations since the Gaza war began. 'The boastful dictator from Tehran has turned into a cowardly murderer, firing targeted shots at the civilian rear in Israel to deter the [military] from continuing the attack that is collapsing his capabilities,' Mr Katz wrote on X on Monday. 'The residents of Tehran will pay the price, and soon,' he concluded. Mr Katz, a close ally of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, has previously threatened residents of Gaza with 'total devastation' and that the country's armed forces would no longer differentiate 'between Lebanon and Hezbollah'. The latest statement about the Iranian capital adds to accusations that the Israeli military leadership is willing to strike civilians, even while many of its spokespeople and Israeli politicians maintain it does not. Iran's Health Ministry said that at least 224 people have been killed in Israeli strikes since Friday. The number of people killed in Israel is at 24, it says. The fighting shows no signs of abating and is prompting urgent calls for calm as the Middle East edges closer to a regional war. Mr Katz later played down the initial comments in a post released hours later: 'I wish to clarify the obvious: there is no intention to physically harm the residents of Tehran as the murderous dictator does to the residents of Israel.' In a further post on Monday, Mr Katz said a strike on the Iranian state broadcaster – which he accused of 'propaganda and incitement' – took place 'after a widespread evacuation of nearby residents'. But the minister's initial comments caused a backlash online, with TV host Piers Morgan writing in a post on X: 'Israel Minister of Defence makes no pretence of intent to target civilians in Iran. The very thing Israel – rightly – is enraged at Iran doing to its own civilians.' Mr Katz also blocked Israeli journalist Bar Shem-Ur who criticised his initial comments. 'Criticism in a democracy? Not with him,' wrote Mr Shem-Ur in a post on X. Israeli officials have faced a steady stream of international criticism since the Gaza war began, the most significant of which came from South Africa's genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice, and the International Criminal Court issuing arrest warrants against Mr Netanyahu and Mr Katz's predecessor, Yoav Gallant. In the early days after the October 7, 2023 Hamas attacks on Israel, Mr Gallant said he 'ordered a complete siege on the Gaza Strip' and made comments about fighting 'human animals'.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into the world of global news and events? Download our app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store