Iraqi Militias Threaten Israel While Iraqi Demos Spiral

Demonstrators take to the streets in Iraq (Credit: Ahmad al-Rubaye, AFP).

Leaders of Iranian-linked militias in Iraq capitalized on the Iraqi Prime Minister's statement yesterday that Israel is to blame for recent airstrikes on their bases, claiming that PM Abdul-Madhi's comments are a "green light to retaliate against Israel." Although the militias themselves do not border Israel and do not have the capacity to attack the Jewish State, they are part of a larger system of patronage and cooperation between Iran and its proxies which stretches from Tehran to the borders of Israel. Besides demanding that Israel be tried by international tribunals for their alleged involvement, one militia commander stated on Arab media that "“all options are on the table, especially since we reserve the right to respond, and the Zionist entity is not away from our fire range.”

Meanwhile, a second day of widespread demonstrations across Iraq resulted in the deaths of five more protesters and a police officer, as well as injuries to hundreds more, as security forces opened fire in Baghdad and Basra. Reports of security forces "losing control" in some cities lead Iraq's Minister of Defense to declare a State of Emergency today as thousands of protesters marched to government buildings around the country. There are reports that Iran is directing the harsh crackdown from its Iraqi consulate, employing their militias, and even elite Iraqi counter-terrorism units. Only months after similar demonstrations against government corruption and economic depression in Iran were violently suppressed, it appears that Iran is now leveraging the same deadly tactics in other Middle Eastern capitals under Tehran's control. The Iraqi government - like Syria, Lebanon and Gaza - is on the brink of becoming a vassal state of the Islamic Republic.

We invite you to continue to pray with us for the Iraqi people, the Iranian people, the Kurdish people, and of course, pray for Israel, as the entire region is now reeling under the unhindered provocations of the Iranian regime.

Sources:

https://www.presstv.com/…/Iraqi-Hashd-alShaabi-to-retaliate…

https://www.kurdistan24.net/…/9184a9e6-131c-40b6-8682-60b86…

https://twitter.com/thestevennab…/status/1179422188149055498

https://twitter.com/AmichaiStein1/status/1179445440992952320

https://twitter.com/FirstSquawk/status/1179438586988388352

https://twitter.com/BaxtiyarGoran/status/1179450313515790336