Iraq’s politicians have voted in favour of a resolution informing the Iraqi government that they support the removal of all foreign troops in Iraq and that they should no longer offer foreign troops access to Iraqi land, air or waters. While the resolution is not binding, the Iraqi Prime Minister, Adel Abdul Mahdi, has previously declared his support for the move.
If the government supports the resolution, this could see the removal of approx. 5,200 US military personnel and halt the deployment of any additional troops, which is a significant gesture of non-compliance, given the US recently announced that they would deploy an additional 3,000 personnel to the region to supress significant unrest following the US assassination of Iran’s military commander Qassem Soleimani.
NATO announced the suspension of operations in Iraq only yesterday.
Meanwhile, in Iran, Millions of Iranian mourners followed Soleimani’s funeral procession through the streets of Ahvaz. Pro-government demonstrations rarely muster more than a few thousand people but Soleimani’s procession rallied numbers on a scale not seen in Iran since the funeral of Ayatollah Khomeini, in 1989.
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