Iran backs Iraqi call to end presence of US-led force

TEHRAN: Iran on Monday threw its weight behind calls from Iraq to oust the US-led anti-Daesh coalition from its territory after a US strike killed a militia commander in Baghdad.
“Regarding Iraq and the actions that the American government took recently, the Iraqi government has clearly announced its position,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani told a press conference.
Iran is confident that its neighbor has “the ability, strength, and authority necessary to maintain security” on its territory alone, Kanani said.
“We have repeatedly expressed our views to the authorities of the countries of the region, including Iraq, and declared that the presence of American forces in any form whatsoever ... would not help to maintain stability and peace,” he said.
A US drone strike on Thursday killed a military commander and another member of Harakat Al-Nujaba, a faction of Hashd Al-Shaabi — a collection of mainly pro-Iran former paramilitary units now integrated into Iraq’s armed forces.
Washington called the attack in Baghdad an act of self-defense, but Prime Minister Mohamed Shia Al-Sudani’s government decried it as an act of “blatant aggression” by the US-led coalition.
Al-Sudani said on Friday he was determined to “put an end” to the anti-Daesh coalition.
His government relies on support from Tehran-aligned parties, and he has repeatedly said in recent weeks he would like to see foreign troops leave Iraq.
Regional tensions are soaring, with the repercussions of the Israel-Hamas war being increasingly felt in Iraq and across the Middle East.
The US and other coalition forces in Iraq, deployed since 2014 in the fight against Daesh, have come under regular attack since the fighting erupted on Oct. 7 between Israel and Hamas.
Washington says there have been more than 100 attacks on its forces in Iraq and Syria since mid-October.
Most have been claimed by a loose alliance of Iran-linked armed groups that oppose American support for Israel in the Gaza war.
The US has around 2,500 troops in Iraq and 900 in Syria as part of the multinational coalition set up at the height of IS’s territorial gains.
Other coalition partners include France, Spain, and Britain.
In late 2017, Iraq declared victory over Daesh, but remaining Daesh cells in remote northern areas continue to launch sporadic attacks.