Shafaq News/ Former MP and prominent politician Mithal al-Alousi warned on Sunday of replicating Afghanistan's scenario in Iraq after the U.S. troops' withdrawal by the end of the current year.

Al-Alousi told Shafaq News Agency, "there are great concerns among the political and popular communities about the total U.S. withdrawal from Iraq. This will open the way further and wider for Iranian-backed militias to take full control of the political, security, and economic file. The U.S. withdrawal may lay the ground for repeating Afghanistan's scenario in Iraq."

"The U.S. presence in Iraq is a guarantee that Iraq will not be completely occupied by Iran and the political and armed groups aligned with it. For this reason, many influential political and public parties support the U.S. presence in Iraq..to prevent the official transformation of Iraq into of an Iranian province."