Iranian President Ebrahim Raeisi says Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Units (PMU), also known as Hashd al-Sha’abi, plays a leading role in strengthening unity in the country and defending the Iraqi people against terrorist groups.
In a Friday meeting with the chairman of Hashd al-Sha’abi, Falih al-Fayyadh, in Tehran, Raeisi added that the initiative by top Iraqi religious leaders to form the PMU was a wise move that has had and numerous blessings for the country and its people.
He noted that the PMU enjoy the “very valuable asset” of support among different Iraqi Shia and Sunni groups.
The president commemorated the top Iranian and Iraqi anti-terror commanders, Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, who were assassinated by the US in Iraq, and emphasized that their martyrdom would deepen relations between the two nations.
US terrorists assassinated General Soleimani, the commander of the Quds Force of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), along with Muhandis, deputy head of Hashd al-Sha’abi, and their companions by targeting their vehicle outside the Baghdad International Airport on January 3, 2020.
The cowardly act of terror was carried out under the direction of former US president Donald Trump, with the Pentagon taking responsibility for the strike.
General Soleimani is viewed by the world's freedom-seeking people as the key figure in defeating Daesh, the world’s most notorious terrorist group, in the Middle East battles.
During the Friday meeting, Fayyadh said the Iraqi people highly respect General Soleimani who has become a symbol of deep relations between the two nations.
He added that most of the Iraqi people believe that Hashd al-Sha’abi guarantees the country’s sovereignty and prevents the formation of a dictatorship.