Officials: US sanctions Iraqi factions to counter Iran’s influence
Shafaq News/ The United States considered designating Iraqi military factions as terrorist entities a part of “countering the influence of Iran.”
“The State Departement’s terrorist designation today of Harakat Ansar Allah al-Awfiya and its leader reaffirms the United States’ commitment to countering the malign influence of Iran and the threats posed by Iran-aligned militia groups.” Mathew Miller, the department’s spokesperson, said.
The US Ambassador to Iraq, Alina Romanowski, reposted Miller’s statement, which was translated into Arabic.
Earlier, the US Department of State designated Harakat Ansar Allah al-Awfiya (HAAA) and its Secretary General Haydar Muzhir Ma’lak al-Sa’idi as Specially Designated Global Terrorists.
“HAAA, an Iraq-based militia group aligned with Iran, is part of the “Islamic Resistance in Iraq (IRI)”—a front group that includes several Iran-aligned terrorist and militia organizations. Among these are the U.S.-designated terrorist organizations Kata’ib Hizballah, Harakat al-Nujaba, and Kata’ib Sayyid al-Shuhada. These groups have a history of repeated attacks on Global Coalition forces in Iraq and Syria.” The Depratement said.
According to the US Departement, “The IRI has claimed responsibility for numerous recent attacks against US military personnel in Iraq and Syria. Notably, this includes the January drone attack that killed three US service members at Tower 22 in Jordan, an attack in which HAAA was directly involved. Furthermore, HAAA has publicly threatened to continue its assaults on US interests in the region and has also been responsible for terrorizing the Iraqi population.”
The US government has reiterated its “commitment to using all available tools to counter Iran’s support for terrorism and to degrade and disrupt the ability of Iran-backed groups to conduct terrorist attacks.”
Other IRI members include Kata’eb Hezbollah, which was designated as a Foreign Terrorist Organization and Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) in July 2009; Harakat al-Nujaba, designated as an SDGT in March 2019; and Kata’ib Sayyid al-Shuhada, designated as an SDGT in November 2023.
