Iraqi foreign ministry summons US envoy over 'violation of sovereignty'

The Iraqi foreign ministry has summoned US ambassador Matthew Tueller to condemn recent American strikes in the capital Baghdad that resulted in the assassination of Iran’s top military commander, Lt. Gen. Qassem Soleimani, and the second-in-command of Iraq's Popular Mobilization Units (PMU), Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis.  

In a statement released on Sunday, the ministry strongly denounced repeated airstrikes as a "blatant violation of sovereignty and break of agreement with the US-led coalition" which was purportedly fighting the Daesh Takfiri terrorists on the ground.

The ministry further stated that the act was also “a flagrant breach of all international laws and norms that regulate relations between countries and prohibit the use of their lands to carry out attacks on neighboring countries.”

In all, 10 people -- five Iraqis and five Iranians -- were assassinated in the US strike on their motorcade just outside Baghdad airport in early hours of Friday shortly after Gen. Soleimani’s flight had arrived from Syria, leading to speculation that the Israeli intelligence apparatus might have played a role.

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General Soleimani’s assassination may trigger the ultimate objective of ending the US military presence in Iraq, a British paper says.

Observers say the assassination would come back to haunt US President Donald Trump, on whose direct orders the drone strike was carried out,

The assassination prompted calls for revenge from various resistance groups across the region with Iranian officials also vowing a crushing response to this act of terrorism by the US. The assassination also triggered a wave of outrage among Iranians and Iraqis, and further aligned the two neighbors with vociferous calls for revenge for what they view as "state terrorism."

On Sunday, Iraqi lawmakers used an extraordinary parliamentary session to push for a vote on a resolution requiring the government to press Washington to withdraw US troops from Iraq. The legislators unanimously approved a bill, demanding the withdrawal of US military forces from the country. A total of 170 legislators signed a draft bill, demanding the withdrawal of US military forces from the country.

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The lawmakers, in line with their national and regulatory responsibilities, singed the four-point draft.

On Saturday, the leader of a powerful political coalition in Iraq’s parliament said US forces will be driven out of Iraqi territory following the vicious, cowardly US operation.

Iraq complains to UN Security Council over US strike

Iraq's foreign ministry also lodged official complaints with the United Nations Secretary-General and the Security Council over unlawful US air strikes on Iraqi soil

The complaint is about "American attacks and aggression on Iraqi military positions and the assassination of Iraqi and allied high level military commanders on Iraqi soil," the ministry said in a statement.

It described the attacks as "a dangerous breach of Iraqi sovereignty and of the terms of US presence in Iraq." It called on the Security Council to condemn the attacks.

Millions of Iranians mourn Lt. Gen. Soleimani, PMU deputy head in Mashhad

Millions of Iranian mourners take part in a funeral procession for the late Lt. Gen. Qassem Soleimani and his companions.

US-led coalition pauses training for Iraqi security forces  

The US-led international coalition, purportedly fighting the Daesh, also said on Sunday it had paused its training and support of Iraqi security forces due to repeated rocket attacks on bases housing its troops.

 "As a result we are now fully committed to protecting the Iraqi bases that host Coalition troops. This has limited our capacity to conduct training with partners and to support their operations against Daesh and we have therefore paused these activities, subject to continuous review."

The US, backed by the United Kingdom, invaded Iraq in 2003 claiming that the former regime of Saddam Hussein possessed weapons of mass destruction.

No such weapons, however, were ever found.

The invaders withdrew from Iraq, after nearly nine years of a military campaign that cost tens of thousands of Iraqi lives.

Leading a new coalition of its allies, the United States returned to Iraq in 2014, when Daesh unleashed a campaign of destruction in the Arab country. Widespread reports, however, said the Washington-led operations largely spared the terrorists and led, instead, to civilian deaths and inflicted damage on the Iraqi infrastructure.

Iraq’s army troops, backed by volunteer Hashd al-Sha’abi forces, managed to liberate all Daesh-held areas thanks to military advisory assistance from neighboring Iran.

Baghdad declared the end of the anti-Daesh campaign back in 2017.

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