Iranian Disinformation Organizations Coordinate Global Activities
Log in to access the latest Kharon Briefs on global security threats and sanctions networks. Don’t have an account? Register now for free. Log in
Brief Analysis
In the year since their most iconic leaders were killed, Iran-backed militias in Iraq have been changing in crucial ways, providing rich insights into how Baghdad and its international partners should approach them in 2021.
Iraq has passed through a gauntlet of sensitive anniversaries in the past few weeks, with December 29 marking one year since U.S. strikes killed twenty-five members of the powerful militia Kataib Hezbollah, and January 3 commemorating the deaths of Iranian general Qasem Soleimani and Iraqi militia leader Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis. Although nonlethal bombings against Iraqi trucks carrying U.S. equipment continued, no militia rocket attacks were launched against U.S. facilities during the anniversary period, the last being a December 20 salvo targeting the U.S. embassy in Baghdad.
Brief Analysis
The latest sanctions against a senior leader in the Iranian-backed terrorist militia are a reminder that such figures cannot slip onto the political spectrum merely by changing their job title.
On January 13, the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control announced new sanctions on Abdul-Aziz al-Mohammadawi (usually known as Abu Fadak, sometimes Abu Hamid), the acting deputy chairman of Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF). He was designated for terrorist activities under Executive Order 13224. In 2012, then-vice president Joe Biden promised, “If you attack innocent Americans, we will follow you to the end of the earth.” Abu Fadak is guilty of doing just that, and designating him shows that the United States will not let its most determined adversaries sidestep accountability just by joining the security forces of the Iraqi state.
Brief Analysis
In addition to prohibiting any negotiations over Iran’s military power or regional ambitions, the legislation would oblige the government to work toward evicting the United States from the Middle East and destroying Israel within twenty years.
On December 30, hardline politicians in Iran introduced a new parliamentary bill mapping out the country’s response to the killing of Qods Force commander Qasem Soleimani by a U.S. drone strike one year earlier. Centered around Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s July 21 directive to avenge Soleimani’s death, the legislation includes four main goals: (1) initiate a “decisive act of revenge” by weakening the United States and evicting it from the region; (2) counter Israel’s actions and follow through on Soleimani’s objective of destroying that country; (3) counter America’s economic “terrorism” against Iran; and (4) pursue an “honorable” (meaning defiant) foreign policy.
US sanctions Iraqi militia leader over human rights abuse daijiworld.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from daijiworld.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.