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By Maher Nazeh
BAGHDAD (Reuters) – Tens of thousands of supporters of Iranian-backed Iraqi paramilitary groups chanted anti-US slogans in central Baghdad on Sunday to mark the anniversary of the US murder of Iranian General Qassem Soleimani and a Iraqi militia commander.
The rally coincided with growing tensions between Iran and the United States in the final days of President Donald Trump’s administration, and many members of the crowd demanded revenge.
Soleimani, head of an elite Iranian Revolutionary Guard unit abroad, was killed along with Iraqi militia leader Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis on January 3, 2020, in a US drone strike on his convoy at Baghdad airport.
Washington had accused Soleimani of staging attacks by Iran-aligned militias against US forces in the region, and his assassination drove US-Iran hostilities into uncharted waters and stoked concern over a major conflagration .
Protesters gathered in Tahrir Square waved Iraqi and PMF flags and chanted anti-American slogans such as “America is the Great Satan”, while carrying the portraits of Soleimani and Muhandis.
They had flocked to the central plaza in response to calls by a set of militias known collectively as the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), which are mostly backed by Iran.
Large posters of the two men killed as well as others also killed in the attack were all over the square and hung on adjacent buildings.
PMF leader Faleh al-Fayyad and politician Hadi al-Ameri, commander of the Badr Organization’s militia, who were both present at the rally addressing the crowd, called for the expulsion of US troops.
REGIONAL STRAINS
“We are here today to condemn what the US-Israeli enemy did in targeting the victory leaders,” protester Abu Ahmed said.
“We call on the government to take a serious stand to hold those who killed them accountable.”
Reflecting the lingering regional tensions, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif on Saturday urged Trump not to be “trapped” by an alleged Israeli plan to provoke a war with attacks on US forces in Iraq.
An Israeli official dismissed the charge as “absurd” and said it was Israel that must be on the alert for possible Iranian strikes.
The United States accuses Iranian-backed militias of regularly attacking American installations in Iraq. No known group backed by Iran has claimed responsibility.
The US military flew two nuclear-capable B-52 bombers to the Middle East in a deterrent message to Iran last week, but the bombers have since left the region.
On Saturday evening, thousands of mourners gathered on the highway leading to Baghdad airport, where Soleimani and Muhandis were killed, during a mock funeral procession organized in tribute to the two men.
(Reporting by Maher Nazeh, written by Amina Ismail, edited by William Maclean)
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