Hezbollah Brigades, Iraq (Archive – Reuters)
In light of growing international fears about the expansion of the conflict between Israel and Palestinian factions in the Gaza Strip and the trend towards a regional war, and coinciding with the second visit in a few weeks by US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken to Tel Aviv and countries in the region, the Hezbollah Brigades in Iraq have launched new threats.
The Iraqi Hezbollah Brigades security bureau official, known as “Abu Ali Al-Askari”, confirmed that his forces would greet Blinken’s visit to Iraq with unprecedented escalation, attacking the minister and describing him as the “Zionist war minister”. .”
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He also stressed in a statement published on Telegram from Saturday evening to Sunday that “resistance elements will work to close down American interests in Iraq and destroy them in the region in the coming days if Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip continues.”
Closure of the embassy
Furthermore, he threatened to use non-peaceful means. He said: “We will work to close the American embassy in Baghdad and prevent Americans from entering the country in our non-peaceful way.”
These threats came while Blinken was on a tour of the region, during which he visited Israel and attended an Arab-American ministerial meeting held yesterday, Saturday, in the Jordanian capital, Amman, which was also attended by Egypt’s foreign ministers , Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Emirates, Qatar and the Secretary of the Palestine Liberation Organization to discuss ways to stop the Israeli war on Gaza.
From the vicinity of the US Embassy in Baghdad (archive – Agence France-Presse)
It is not known whether he will visit Iraq today, Sunday, knowing that this was not included in his visit program. But yesterday the local Iraqi newspapers had mentioned that visit.
Iraqi militias
These threats came as sources familiar with the event reported that large numbers of Iraqi militias had flown into Syria over the past two days.
The sources also confirmed that the Popular Mobilization Forces militia put its members on high alert two days ago
Since the outbreak of conflict between Israel and Palestinian factions on October 7, following the sudden attack launched by Hamas against Israeli settlements and military bases in the Gaza Strip, the United States has increased its military readiness in the region and sent more air defense systems to the Middle East.
Especially after the frequency of threats has increased from different Iranian-backed factions and groups, whether in Iraq, Syria, or even Lebanon, where Hezbollah has threatened more than once to become more involved in the war against Israel if “ if the need arose.”
From Yemen, the Houthi leader also threatened on October 10 to launch drones and missiles if American forces directly intervened in the conflict in Gaza, and then Israel announced the interception of missiles and drones launched from Yemen.
Several American bases in Iraq have also been targeted by missiles and drones dozens of times since mid-October.