{"id":18446,"date":"2019-12-14T20:42:13","date_gmt":"2019-12-15T01:42:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.irandemocratic.org\/public_html\/news\/?p=18446"},"modified":"2019-12-14T20:42:13","modified_gmt":"2019-12-15T01:42:13","slug":"iraqs-protests-a-decisive-answer-to-iran","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.irandemocratic.org\/public_html\/news\/18446\/","title":{"rendered":"Iraq\u2019s Protests a Decisive Answer to Iran"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.iranfocus.com\/en\/iran-a-neighbours\/iraq-mainmenu-29\/34137-iran-influence-iraq-protests-middle-east\">Iraq\u2019s Protests a Decisive Answer to Iran<\/a><\/p>\n<p>13 DECEMBER 2019<\/p>\n<p>By Pooya Stone<\/p>\n<p>Iraq has been rocked by mass protests since early October, leaving 485 Iraqis dead and 17,000 injured, according to Iraq\u2019s High Commission for Human Rights.<\/p>\n<p>One of the new\u00a0crimes\u00a0of the Iranian regime in Iraq is\u00a0targeting civil rights activists. Since the beginning of the\u00a0uprising,\u00a0at\u00a0least\u00a0three\u00a0of them have\u00a0been killed by Iranian-supported militia groups in the hope\u00a0of\u00a0scaring\u00a0the\u00a0protesters\u00a0and\u00a0discouraging\u00a0them\u00a0from<a href=\"https:\/\/www.iranfocus.com\/en\/iran-a-neighbours\/iraq-mainmenu-29\/34059-iraqis-determined-to-continue-their-uprisings-until-the-end\">\u00a0continuing\u00a0the\u00a0<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.iranfocus.com\/en\/iran-a-neighbours\/iraq-mainmenu-29\/34059-iraqis-determined-to-continue-their-uprisings-until-the-end\">protests<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>On Sunday, another activist was shot dead by two gunmen, while two other activists survived attacks on their lives in Karbala and Amara in southern Iraq.<\/p>\n<p>On December 2,\u00a0nineteen-year-old Zahra Ali was kidnapped while distributing leaflets. She was tortured and her body\u00a0was\u00a0thrown outside her home in Baghdad a few hours later.\u00a0Her body showed traces of electric shocks, blows, and fractures.<\/p>\n<p>Last week, 53-year-old family father\u00a0Fehim\u00a0al-Tai was shot dead by two assailants on a motorcycle on his way home.<\/p>\n<p>Ali\u00a0Najm\u00a0al-Lami\u00a0disappeared on Tuesday while he was returning home from Tahrir Square, the epicenter of anti-government protests in the capital Baghdad.\u00a0His body was found near his home on Wednesday with gunshot wounds in his head.<\/p>\n<p>Who has the main role in the killings?<\/p>\n<p>The Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF, or\u00a0Hashd\u00a0al-Shaabi)\u00a0which is professing the ideology of the\u00a0Iranian regime\u00a0is seen as the main culprit.\u00a0It is notorious as the\u00a0\u2018bloody hand\u2019\u00a0of\u00a0Iran\u2019s\u00a0regime in Iraq.\u00a0The head of the\u00a0PMF\u00a0and Kata\u2019ib\u00a0Hezbollah, Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, previously served\u00a0in\u00a0Iran\u2019s Revolutionary Guards (IRGC).\u00a0The\u00a0Badr\u00a0Organization, which was created as a formation of the IRGC during the Iran-Iraq War has a long history of allegiance to Tehran.<\/p>\n<p>Despite former Prime Minister Adil Abdul Mahdi issuing a decree in July, which ordered the PMF to vacate their headquarters and formally integrate into the state\u2019s security forces, they have continued to entrench their influence over the state and the rest of the country.<\/p>\n<p>Iraq revolution as an answer to the regime in Iran<\/p>\n<p>After the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.iranfocus.com\/en\/iran-a-neighbours\/iraq-mainmenu-29\/34112-iraqi-prime-minister-s-resignation-an-end-or-a-powerful-beginning\">resignation<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.iranfocus.com\/en\/iran-a-neighbours\/iraq-mainmenu-29\/34112-iraqi-prime-minister-s-resignation-an-end-or-a-powerful-beginning\">\u00a0of Adel Abdul Mahdi<\/a>, a turning point occurred in the uprising of the Iraqi people, and the Iraqi revolutionaries were able to impose their will on\u00a0Iran\u2019s\u00a0puppet rulers of Iraq for more than two months of persistence, presenting about\u00a0450\u00a0martyrs and thousands of wounded.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>But the\u00a0Iranian regime\u00a0which is\u00a0wrestling\u00a0with the triumph of the Iraqi people and\u00a0seeks\u00a0to divert it by\u00a0relating\u00a0these popular movements to foreign intervention\u00a0is\u00a0seeking an opportunity to implement other plots, to bring this popular uprising to\u00a0the end.<\/p>\n<p>Qasem\u00a0Soleimani,\u00a0Major general in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and commander of its Quds Force,\u00a0had been planning and coordinating with his Iraqi mercenaries for about a week to suppress and silence the Iraqi uprising, just like the November uprising.<\/p>\n<p>Iraqis are seen showing their hatred to the images of Iranian regime Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei &amp; IRGC Quds Force chief Qassem Soleimani as the source of all their country&#8217;s miseries.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Finally, at midnight on Friday,\u00a06\u00a0December\u00a02019,\u00a0the\u00a0Hashd\u00a0al-Shaabi,\u00a0Badr, al-Khorasani, al-Aseeb, Hezbollah, al-Nojaba, with the support of government security forces, led by\u00a0Qasem\u00a0Soleimani and\u00a0the IRGC, launched\u00a0blitz\u00a0attacks\u00a0against the protesters in\u00a0the\u00a0Sanak\u00a0parking\u00a0and\u00a0the\u00a0Kalani\u00a0Square.<\/p>\n<p>A storm of bullets and tear gas\u00a0were\u00a0fired\u00a0on the\u00a0people, and the streets of these two areas were filled with dead bodies.<\/p>\n<p>The\u00a0Iranian\u00a0mercenaries were able to temporarily occupy the two areas and push the people back. But as of midnight, on Friday, information and a call for help were swiftly launched, and the minarets of Baghdad\u00a0began to broadcast\u00a0the prayer\u00a0and inform the public\u00a0about\u00a0the crime.<\/p>\n<p>This timely announcement prompted many people and tribesmen to\u00a0came to\u00a0the\u00a0place\u00a0of the conflict, that\u00a0night, repelling the invaders and recapturing the occupied areas.<\/p>\n<p>International observers who followed the brutal attacks on defenseless people finally declared that the\u00a0Iranian\u00a0regime had failed in its plot and attack.<\/p>\n<p>Protest organizers in Iraq called for\u00a0a mass\u00a0demonstration\u00a0on\u00a0Tuesday,\u00a010\u00a0December, to\u00a0commemorate the blood of martyrs\u00a0in\u00a0Iraq. In addition to the rallies held in most Iraqi provinces, especially Najaf and Karbala, to commemorate the martyrs, many\u00a0people\u00a0flocked\u00a0to Baghdad.<\/p>\n<p>The presence of millions of people and the solidarity of the Iraqi people and the armed support of the valiant Iraqi tribes\u00a0forced\u00a0the government to\u00a0close\u00a0all the\u00a0Hashd\u00a0al-Shaabi\u00a0bases\u00a0and\u00a0expel\u00a0them from Baghdad.<\/p>\n<p>Protesters in southern Iraq blocked the al-Rumaila\u00a0oil\u00a0well, one of Iraq&#8217;s most important oil wells. Najaf tribes also threatened to take up arms if armed groups continued to attack demonstrators.\u00a0Iraqi Army Chief of Staff Othman al-Ghanemi\u00a0announced that security forces would be there to protect the demonstrators until their legitimate demands were met.<\/p>\n<p>The October Revolution Demonstration Committee in Tahrir Square, in a statement, emphasized the need for more stability and standing in the way of the revolution, saying:\u00a0&#8220;The heads of state and the corrupt sectarian government felt their\u00a0final days. The revolutionaries have decided to\u00a0oust\u00a0them and bring them to justice for all the crimes committed\u00a0against the Iraqi people\u00a0while\u00a0putting\u00a0the\u00a0sovereignty\u00a0of Iraq in the hand of the\u00a0Iranian regime.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>It concluded: \u201cThe blood of the\u00a0martyrs commits us to\u00a0continue their path, and we\u00a0will not move back to our normal life\u00a0until our\u00a0country becomes\u00a0what the martyrs\u00a0want.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"mh-excerpt\"><p>Iraq\u2019s Protests a Decisive Answer to Iran 13 DECEMBER 2019 By Pooya Stone Iraq has been rocked by mass protests since early October, leaving 485 <a class=\"mh-excerpt-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.irandemocratic.org\/public_html\/news\/18446\/\" title=\"Iraq\u2019s Protests a Decisive Answer to Iran\">[&#8230;]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":18447,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[454,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18446","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-analysis","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.irandemocratic.org\/public_html\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18446","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.irandemocratic.org\/public_html\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.irandemocratic.org\/public_html\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.irandemocratic.org\/public_html\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.irandemocratic.org\/public_html\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18446"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.irandemocratic.org\/public_html\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18446\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18448,"href":"https:\/\/www.irandemocratic.org\/public_html\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18446\/revisions\/18448"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.irandemocratic.org\/public_html\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18447"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.irandemocratic.org\/public_html\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18446"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.irandemocratic.org\/public_html\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18446"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.irandemocratic.org\/public_html\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18446"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}