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Militiamen
withdraw
from US
Embassy
but Iraq
tensions
linger
By
QASSIM
ABDUL-ZAHRA
and
JOSEPH
KRAUSS apnews.com
BAGHDAD
-
Iran-backed
militiamen
withdrew
from the
U.S.
Embassy
compound
in
Baghdad
on
Wednesday
after
two days
of
clashes
with
American
security
forces,
but
U.S.-Iran
tensions
remain
high and
could
spill
over
into
further
violence.
The
withdrawal
followed
calls
from the
government
and
senior
militia
leaders.
It ended
a
two-day
crisis
marked
by the
breach
of the
largest
and one
of the
most
heavily
fortified
U.S.
diplomatic
missions
in the
world.
The
attack
and its
volatile
aftermath
prompted
the
Pentagon
to send
hundreds
of
additional
troops
to the
Middle
East and
U.S.
Secretary
of State
Mike
Pompeo
to delay
a
European
and
Central
Asian
trip.
In
an
orchestrated
assault,
hundreds
of
militiamen
and
their
supporters
broke
into the
embassy
compound,
destroying
a
reception
area,
smashing
windows
and
spraying
graffiti
on walls
to
protest
U.S.
airstrikes
against
an
Iran-backed
militia
over the
weekend
that
killed
25
fighters.
The
U.S.
blamed
the
militia
for a
rocket
attack
on an
Iraqi
military
base in
the
northern
city of
Kirkuk
last
week
that
killed a
U.S.
contractor.
The
protesters
set up a
tent
camp
overnight
and on
Wednesday
set fire
to the
reception
area and
hurled
stones
at U.S.
Marines
guarding
the
compound,
who
responded
with
tear
gas.
There
were no
injuries
on
either
side and
no
American
staff
were
evacuated
from the
compound.
The
Popular
Mobilization
Forces,
an
umbrella
group of
state-allied
militias
— many
backed
by Iran
— called
on its
supporters
to
withdraw
in
response
to an
appeal
by the
Iraqi
government,
saying
“your
message
has been
received.”
By
late
afternoon
the
tents
had been
taken
down and
the
protesters
relocated
to the
opposite
side of
the
Tigris
River,
outside
the
so-called
Green
Zone
housing
government
offices
and
foreign
embassies.
U.S.
Apache
helicopters
circled
overhead.
“After
achieving
the
intended
aim, we
pulled
out from
this
place
triumphantly,”
said
Fadhil
al-Gezzi,
a
militia
supporter.
“We
rubbed
America’s
nose in
the
dirt.”
Trump
has
vowed to
exact a
“big
price”
for an
attack
he
blamed
squarely
on Iran.
Kataeb
Hezbollah,
the
Iran-backed
militia
targeted
by the
U.S.
airstrikes,
initially
refused
to leave
but
later
bowed to
demands
to
disperse.
The
militia
is
separate
from the
Hezbollah
militant
group in
Lebanon,
though
both are
backed
by Iran.
“We
don’t
care
about
these
planes
that are
flying
over the
heads of
the
picketers.
Neither
do we
care
about
the news
that
America
will
bring
Marines,”
said
Mohammed
Mohy, a
spokesman
for
Kataeb
Hezbollah.
“On the
contrary,
this
shows a
psychological
defeat
and a
big
mental
breakdown
that the
American
administration
is
suffering
from,”
he said,
before
withdrawing
from the
area.
The
violence
came as
Iran and
its
allies
across
the
region
have
faced
unprecedented
mass
protests
in
recent
months
and
heavy
U.S.
sanctions
have
cratered
Iran’s
economy.
Iraq
has been
gripped
by
anti-government
protests
since
October
fueled
by anger
at
widespread
corruption
and
economic
mismanagement,
as well
as
Iran’s
heavy
influence
over the
country’s
affairs.
Those
protesters
were not
involved
in the
embassy
attack.
The
Pentagon
sent an
infantry
battalion
of about
750
soldiers
to the
Middle
East. A
U.S.
official
familiar
with the
decision
said
they
would go
to
Kuwait.
Pompeo
postponed
a trip
that was
scheduled
to start
in
Ukraine
late
Thursday
so that
he can
monitor
developments
in Iraq
and
“ensure
the
safety
and
security
of
Americans
in the
Middle
East,”
said
State
Department
spokeswoman
Morgan
Ortagus.
Iran
denied
involvement
in the
attack
on the
embassy.
Supreme
Leader
Ayatollah
Ali
Khamenei
was
quoted
by media
as
saying
that “if
the
Islamic
Republic
makes a
decision
to
confront
any
country,
it will
do it
directly.”
Iran
later
summoned
the
Swiss
charge
d’affaires,
who
represents
American
interests
in
Tehran,
to
protest
what it
said was
war-mongering
by U.S.
officials.
Public
consular
operations
at the
embassy
were
suspended
and
future
appointments
cancelled,
it said
in a
statement.
Tensions
have
steadily
risen
since
Trump
withdrew
the U.S.
from
Iran’s
2015
nuclear
deal
with
world
powers
and
embarked
on a
campaign
of
maximum
pressure
through
economic
sanctions.
Iran has
responded
by
abandoning
some of
its
commitments
under
the
deal.
U.S.
officials
have
blamed
Iran for
the
sabotage
of oil
tankers
in the
Persian
Gulf and
a drone
attack
on Saudi
oil
facilities
in
September
that
caused a
spike in
world
oil
prices.
But the
Trump
administration
has not
responded
with
direct
military
action,
apparently
fearing
a wider
conflict.
The
U.S. has
sent
more
than
14,000
additional
troops
to the
Gulf
region
since
May in
response
to
concerns
about
Iranian
aggression.
At the
time of
the
attack,
the U.S.
had
about
5,200
troops
in Iraq,
mainly
to train
Iraqi
forces
and help
them
combat
Islamic
State
extremists.
The
U.S. and
Iran
have
vied for
influence
over
Iraq
since
the 2003
U.S.-led
invasion
that
toppled
Saddam
Hussein.
Iran has
close
ties to
Iraq’s
Shiite
majority
and
major
political
factions,
and its
influence
has
steadily
grown
since
then.
Iran
helped
to
mobilize
tens of
thousands
of
mostly
Shiite
militiamen
to
battle
the
Islamic
State
group
when it
stormed
across
northern
and
western
Iraq in
2014 as
the
armed
forces
collapsed.
The U.S.
and Iran
both
provided
vital
aid to
Iraqi
forces,
who
eventually
declared
victory
over the
extremists
in
December
2017.
The
political
influence
of the
Popular
Mobilization
Forces
has
risen in
recent
years,
and
their
allies
dominate
the
parliament
and the
government.
That has
made
them the
target
of the
anti-government
protesters,
who have
attacked
Iranian
diplomatic
missions
and the
local
headquarters
of
parties
affiliated
with the
militias
across
southern
Iraq.
They
have
also set
up a
sprawling
protest
camp in
central
Baghdad,
and for
weeks
have
been
trying
to enter
the
Green
Zone.
Iraqi
security
forces
have
beaten
them
back
with
tear gas
and live
ammunition,
killing
hundreds.
The
militiamen
and
their
supporters,
however,
were
able to
quickly
enter
the
Green
Zone and
mass in
front of
the
embassy,
with
little
if any
resistance
from
authorities.
Iraq’s
government
vehemently
condemned
the
airstrikes
on the
militia,
saying
it
violated
national
sovereignty.
But Iran
and its
allies
might
have
also
seen the
attack
as a way
of
diverting
attention
from the
anti-government
protests.
“Iran
has been
trying
to
provoke
the U.S.
into
helping
it solve
its Iraq
problem,”
said the
Crisis
Group,
an
international
think
tank.
“The
Trump
administration,
by
responding
to the
attacks
in
Kirkuk
and
elsewhere
with
airstrikes,
has
obliged.”
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